SB 199 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.

Summary

Employment; paid sick leave; civil penalties; civil actions. Requires one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for all employees of private employers and state and local governments, with certain exceptions. The bill requires that employees who are employed and compensated on a fee-for-service basis accrue paid sick leave in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. The bill provides that employees transferred to a separate division or location remain entitled to previously accrued paid sick leave and that employees retain their accrued paid sick leave under any successor employer. The bill allows employers to provide a more generous paid sick leave policy than prescribed by its provisions and specifies that employees, in addition to using paid sick leave for their physical or mental illness or to care for a family member, may use paid sick leave to seek or obtain certain services or to relocate or secure an existing home due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. The bill requires the Commissioner to promulgate regulations for the implementation and enforcement of the bill's provisions by July 1, 2027. The bill authorizes the Commissioner, in the case of a knowing violation, to subject an employer to a civil penalty not to exceed $150 for the first violation, $300 for the second violation, and $500 for each successive violation. The Commissioner or Attorney General may commence administrative proceedings or bring a civil action to enforce the bill's provisions. Additionally, the bill authorizes an aggrieved employee to bring a civil action against the employer in which he may recover double the amount of any unpaid sick leave and the amount of any actual damages suffered as the result of the employer's violation. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill incorporates SB 372 and is identical to HB 5.

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2026

Vetoed

Apr 2026

Introduced Jan 9, 2026 Vetoed Apr 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

Labor and Commerce Substitute → Governor Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from a House Substitute to a Governor Substitute, which involved significant structural and substantive changes. The most critical change is the shift in applicability: the House version applied specifically to home health workers, while the Governor's version expands the law to cover all employers (with a phased-in employee threshold) and removes the specific 'home health worker' definition. Additionally, the Governor's version introduces a new definition for 'domestic partner' and excludes student interns from coverage.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a specific program for home health workers to a general paid sick leave law applicable to all employers in Virginia, subject to a phased-in employee count threshold.

SCOPE

The specific definition of 'home health worker' and the associated exemptions were removed, expanding the law's applicability to all employees.

DEFINITION

A new definition for 'domestic partner' was added to include individuals in unmarried, long-term relationships who share finances or household responsibilities.

ELIGIBILITY

The definition of 'employee' was modified to explicitly exclude student interns, and the definition of 'employer' now includes a phased-in threshold based on the number of employees (starting at 50, then 25, then 1).

REQUIREMENT

The specific accrual rules and exemptions tailored for home health workers were replaced with general provisions applicable to all employees.

STRUCTURE

The bill's structure was reorganized to create a new Article (2.1:1) containing sections 40.1-33.6:1 through 40.1-33.6:7, rather than the previous Article 2.1 with sections 40.1-33.3 through 40.1-33.6.

Enrolled → Commerce and Labor Substitute · 16 edits

MAJOR

The bill was converted from an Enrolled version into a Commerce and Labor Substitute, which involves significant changes to employer definitions, employee eligibility, and the definition of paid sick leave. The primary purpose of this change is to alter who must provide paid leave, how it is calculated, and who is exempt from the law.

Scope change

The bill's applicability has shifted from a phased-in approach for all employers to a more restrictive set of rules with specific exemptions for certain healthcare workers and federal agencies.

ELIGIBILITY

The definition of 'employer' was changed to include the Commonwealth and its agencies starting July 1, 2028, whereas the original bill excluded them until January 1, 2029.

A new exemption was added for federal government agencies, meaning they are no longer required to provide paid sick leave under this bill.

The definition of 'family member' was removed entirely from the substitute version, potentially narrowing the scope of who can use sick leave for caregiving purposes.

The definition of 'family member' was removed entirely, which may limit the number of people an employee can care for using sick leave.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'paid sick leave' was significantly altered to require that it be compensated at the same hourly rate and with the same benefits (including health care) as regular work, rather than just being paid at the regular rate.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for employers to provide paid sick leave to employees with paid leave policies was removed from the substitute version.

The provision allowing employers to loan paid sick leave to employees in advance of accrual was removed.

The clause explicitly stating that accrued but unused paid sick leave does not need to be paid out upon termination was removed.

The rules regarding rehired employees and the reinstatement of accrued leave were simplified, removing specific language about paying for unused leave upon separation.

The exemption for Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act employees was removed from the substitute version.

The requirement for employers to provide a written policy detailing notice procedures for using sick leave was removed.

The rules regarding documentation for sick leave related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking were simplified and removed.

The provision allowing employers to require reasonable documentation for absences of three or more consecutive days was removed.

The requirement for the Commissioner to prepare a small business regulatory flexibility analysis was removed.

The requirement for the Department of Human Resource Management to assess the impact on state policies was removed.

The specific rule regarding the use of paid sick leave for domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking was removed from the list of allowable uses.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 13, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 3, 2026

How they voted

34–0

Passed · 5 other

Total votes 39

Feb 13, 2026

D Democratic20

19 Yea 1

95% Yea

R Republican19

15 Yea 4

78% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 13, 2026

Vetoed

Governor's recommendation received by Senate

executive

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Mar 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB199ER)

upper

Mar 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference report agreed to by House (61-Y 34-N 0-A)

lower

Mar 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A)

upper

Mar 13, 2026

Legislature · Passed

Conference Report released

legislature

Mar 6, 2026

Committee

House requested conference committee

lower

Mar 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed House with substitute (63-Y 35-N 0-A)

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (15-Y 6-N)

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A)

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (10-Y 5-N)

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N)

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate committee offered

upper

Jan 9, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor

upper

1 primary · 18 co-sponsors