On March 13, 2026, Virginia’s legislature voted to send to the governor’s desk legislation that would give nearly all workers in the commonwealth the right to paid family and medical leave. Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has repeatedly expressed her support for paid leave and her commitment to signing the legislation, a marked contrast to her predecessor, former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who vetoed paid leave bills in 2024 and 2025. With Gov. Spanberger’s signature, Virginia will become the 14th state, along with Washington, D.C., to enact a program that guarantees the right to paid family and medical leave.
Here are key facts about the legislation.
When will the program start?
Workers will be able to begin taking leave and receiving benefits on December 1, 2028. Workers and employers will begin contributing to the program on April 1, 2028.
What will the law do?
Starting December 1, 2028, Virginia’s law will guarantee workers in the state the right to paid family and medical leave when they cannot work due to serious health or caregiving needs.
Who will the law cover?
The law will cover nearly all Virginia employees, including both private sector and local government employees. Employees of the commonwealth of Virginia will receive matching leave rights through changes to state policies. The law will cover employees regardless of employer size and extends to both full-time and part-time workers. As in most state paid leave programs, self-employed people can voluntarily opt in to coverage.
What kinds of leave will the law provide?
Virginia’s law will provide:
- Medical leave to address workers’ own serious health conditions, including pregnancy.
- Caregiving leave to allow workers to care for a loved one with a serious health condition.
- Parental leave to provide workers the time to bond with a new child.
- Safe leave for certain needs when workers or their loved ones experience sexual assault, stalking, harassment, or domestic violence.
- Deployment-related leave for military family needs in connection with a loved one’s military deployment.
Who will be eligible for benefits?
To be eligible for paid leave, workers will need to have earned at least the amount required to be eligible for unemployment insurance in Virginia, currently $3,000, in total over the two highest-earning quarters in a designated base period prior to taking leave.
Benefits are portable, meaning that income earned across all covered Virginia employers in the base period counts toward the total. This means that someone who recently changed jobs can count income from their past job as well as their current job, while someone with two jobs can count income from both. In other words, workers maintain their eligibility for the monetary benefits even as they change employers and may be eligible for monetary benefits as soon as they start with an employer if they were previously eligible.
How much time will workers be able to take?
Workers will be able to take leave for up to 12 weeks per year for any combination of covered needs.
Which family members can workers use leave to care for under the law?
Under Virginia’s law, a family member includes a worker’s spouse or domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent, as well as additional people with whom a worker has relationships by way of marriage or domestic partnership, such as parents-in-law. The definition of family also includes “[a]ny individual whose close association with a covered individual is the equivalent of a family relationship.” This additional category ensures Virginia workers can care for chosen family members—loved ones to whom they may not have a legal or biological relationship.
Will workers’ jobs be protected while they take leave?
Employees will have the right to get their job or an equivalent job back following leave, regardless of the size of their employer, the duration of their employment, or how many hours they work per week. Employees who receive health insurance through their employer will also have the right to keep their coverage while on leave. In addition, employers are prohibited from interfering with employees’ rights or retaliating against employees for using their rights.
How much money will workers receive when they take leave?
Workers will receive 80 percent of their average weekly wages, up to a cap. The maximum weekly benefit will be equal to the Virginia state average weekly wage and adjusted each year. In 2026, the Virginia state average weekly wage is $1,507.01.
How will the state pay for the program?
The program will be funded through contributions from employers and employees as a percentage of income, at a rate to be set by the state and adjusted annually. Contributions will be shared evenly between employers and employees. The amount of income subject to the contribution is capped at the amount of income per employee subject to Social Security contributions, which is $184,500 in 2026. Employers with 10 or fewer employees are not required to pay the employer share of the contribution, which the fund absorbs. Employees at small employers pay the same amount as those at larger employers. This means that Virginia small businesses get to reap the benefits of paid leave in supporting recruiting, retention, and productivity and providing a level playing field to compete for employees, all at no cost.
How will workers access benefits?
Like other state paid leave programs, Virginia’s law will operate as an insurance system. This means that when workers need benefits, they will typically apply to the state, which will process their claim and pay benefits out of the state insurance fund. Employers do not need to pay employees while they are on leave.
Employers can request special permission to provide benefits through a private plan. With an approved private plan, workers are entitled to the exact same benefits but apply for and receive them from the equivalent plan, such as a commercial insurance policy, rather than from the state. Equivalent plans are subject to strict rules and oversight.
Conclusion
For too long, Virginians have had to choose between caring for their loved ones when they needed them the most and providing the income their families count on for rent and food. For too long, Virginians have had to put off getting the health care they need or forgo it all together because they could not afford the time away. For too long, Virginia’s small businesses have struggled to compete with large employers that could afford to pay for paid leave out of pocket. With this new legislation, Virginia is making a profound and critical investment in working families’ economic security, in the health of the commonwealth, and in a robust economy that supports small businesses.