Employment; domestic service. Provides that individuals who are engaged in providing domestic service are not excluded from employee protection laws and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.
Virginia Human Rights Act; definition of employer;person employing one or more domestic workers. Expands the definitionof "employer" for all purposes of the Virginia Human Rights Act toinclude a person employing one or more domestic workers, as definedin the bill.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies; noncompliance with rental agreement; payment plan; removal of sunset. Removes the sunset date of July 1, 2021, from certain provisions enacted during the 2020 Special Session related to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Such provisions (i) changed from five to 14 days the amount of time that a landlord who owns four or fewer rental dwelling units must wait after serving written notice on a tenant notifying the tenant of his nonpayment of rent and of the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if rent is not paid before the landlord may pursue remedies for termination of the rental agreement; (ii) required a landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units, or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, before terminating a rental agreement due to nonpayment of rent, to serve upon such tenant a written notice informing the tenant of the total amount due and owed and offer the tenant a payment plan under which the tenant must pay the total amount due and owed in equal monthly installments over a period of the lesser of six months or the time remaining under the rental agreement; (iii) outlined the remedies a landlord has if a tenant fails to pay the total amount due and owed or enter into a payment arrangement within 14 days of receiving notice or if the tenant enters into a payment arrangement but fails to pay within 14 days of the due date any rent that becomes due under the payment plan or arrangement after such plan or arrangement becomes effective; and (iv) clarified that a tenant is not precluded from participating in any other rent relief programs available to the tenant through a nonprofit organization or under the provisions of a federal, state, or local law, regulation, or action.
Building standards for certain state and local buildings. Requires that any executive branch agency or institution or locality entering the design phase for the construction of a new building greater than 5,000 gross square feet in size or the renovation of a building where the cost of the renovation exceeds 50 percent of the value of the building ensure that such building has sufficient electric vehicle charging infrastructure, defined in the bill, and has features that permit the agency or institution to track the building's energy efficiency and carbon emissions. The bill authorizes the Director of the Department of General Services to grant exemptions to such standards, in writing and with certain terms. The bill requires agencies to annually report to the Governor the energy efficiency and carbon emissions metrics for each such building built or renovated. The bill requires localities to design such building projects according to the same or similar standards, or more stringent standards if adopted by ordinance. The bill also requires that localities incorporate appropriate resilience and distributed energy features. The bill requires that any exemption from the standards granted by resolution of the governing body of a locality be made in writing and explain the basis for granting the exemption.
Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for COVID-19. Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 causing the death or disability of health care providers is an occupational disease compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. The bill provides that the COVID-19 virus is established by a positive diagnostic test for COVID-19, an incubation period consistent with COVID-19, and signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that require medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumption applies to any death or disability occurring on or after March 12, 2020, caused by infection from the COVID-19 virus, provided that for any such death or disability that occurred on or after March 12, 2020, and prior to December 31, 2021, the claimant received a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 from a licensed physician, after either a presumptive positive test or a laboratory-confirmed test for COVID-19, and presented with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 that required medical treatment. The bill provides that such presumptions do not apply to any person offered by his employer a vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 unless the person's physician determines in writing that immunization would pose a significant risk to the person's health.
Employment; domestic service; Human Rights Act. Provides that individuals who are engaged in providing domestic serviceare not excluded from employee protection laws, laws regarding thepayment of wages, and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. Themeasure also provides that the prohibitions on nondiscriminationin employment of the Virginia Human Rights Act apply to employersthat employ one or more domestic workers.
Public elementary and secondary schools; possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers. Requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers in every public school in the local school division, to be administered by any school nurse, employee of the school board, employee of a local governing body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by the local health director and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers for any student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication. The bill requires the Department of Health, in conjunction with the Department of Education, to develop and implement policies for the administration of stock albuterol in public schools.
Public institutions of higher education; admissions applications; criminal history. Prohibits each public institution of higher education, with the exception of the Virginia Military Institute, from (i) utilizing an institution-specific admissions application that contains questions about the criminal history of the applicant or (ii) denying admission to any applicant on the basis of any criminal history information provided by the applicant on any third-party admissions application accepted by the institution. The bill permits each public institution of higher education to inquire into the criminal history of any individual who has been admitted to but has yet to enroll at the institution and withdraw an offer of admission to any individual whom the institution subsequently determines to have a criminal history that poses a threat to the institution's community. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies; landlord's acceptance of rent with reservation; tenant's right of redemption. Prohibits a landlord from accepting full payment of rent, as well as any damages, money judgment, award of attorney fees, and court costs, from a tenant and receiving an order of possession pursuant to an unlawful detainer action and proceeding with eviction, unless there are bases for the entry of an order of possession other than nonpayment of rent stated in the unlawful detainer action filed by the landlord. Under current law, a landlord may accept full or partial payment of all rent and receive an order of possession pursuant to an unlawful detainer action and proceed with eviction, provided that he has stated in a written notice to the tenant that any and all amounts owed to the landlord by the tenant, including payment of any rent, damages, money judgment, award of attorney fees, and court costs, would be accepted with reservation and would not constitute a waiver of the landlord's right to evict the tenant from the dwelling unit. The bill provides specific language that must be included within such notice, and requires a landlord who elects to seek possession of the dwelling unit to provide a copy of the notice to the court for service to the tenant along with the summons for unlawful detainer. The bill also allows tenants to exercise the right of redemption in unlawful detainer actions an unlimited number of times. Under current law, tenants may only exercise the right of redemption once during any 12-month period of continuous residency in the dwelling unit, regardless of the term of the rental agreement or any renewal term of the rental agreement. The bill directs the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development (Director) to develop a sample termination notice to be maintained on the Department of Housing and Community Development's (Department) website that includes language referencing acceptance of rent with reservation by a landlord following a breach of a lease by a tenant, and requires the Department to convene a stakeholder group to provide input to the Director regarding the development of such sample termination notice.
U.S. Route 1; "Emancipation Highway." Renames any section of U.S. Route 1 in Virginia that is designated as "Jefferson Davis Highway" to "Emancipation Highway." The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.
