Virginia

On January 13, 2021, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board (VSHCB) approved a measure implementing permanent workplace safety measures in response to COVID-19. Previously in May 2020, Virginia became the first state to issue temporary COVID-19 workplace safety standards when Governor Ralph Nort

The Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board enacted a Permanent Standard on COVID-19 in workplaces in a 9-4 vote on January 13, 2021.

On July 15, 2020, Virginia became the first state in the nation to promulgate an Emergency Temporary Standard to address COVID-19 in workplaces. Even with vaccine deliveries on the way, Virginia has proposed a Permanent Standard for consideration by the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board (which

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has issued Executive Order Number Seventy-Two , expanding face covering requirements, reducing allowable social gatherings, and directing Virginians to remain at home after midnight.

In the face of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, on December 10, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order (EO) 72, imposing new restrictions on individuals and businesses in the Commonwealth effective Monday December 14, 2020, through January 31, 2021. The new restrictions includ

A manufacturers’ association and several employers have filed a lawsuit to enjoin Virginia’s Emergency Temporary Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention related to COVID-19 , which the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board adopted on July 15, 2020.

Virginia recently enacted its Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 . The standard’s requirement that employers train workers came and went on August 26, 2020. Virginia Occupational Safety and Health expects employers to complete their Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response Plans no later

The labor and employment law revolution in the Commonwealth of Virginia has provided robust protection against unlawful discrimination as well as a comprehensive enforcement scheme. As part of that revolution, the state enacted Senate Bill 712, which amended the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA) to r

Executive Summary: As first discussed in our July 17, 2020 alert , the Department of Labor and Industry’s (DOLI) Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) Program and the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board have adopted an Emergency Temporary Standard for the COVID-19 Pandemic (ETS). The ETS

On July 15, 2020, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Safety and Health Codes Board approved an Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 to be enforced by the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program (VOSH). Virginia is the first state to adopt a specific standard intended to pro

Executive Summary: In what Virginia Governor Ralph Northam described as a response to an “absence of federal guidelines,” Virginia became the first state in the U.S. to establish and implement emergency workplace safety standards in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 15, 2020, Virginia became the first state in the nation to implement an emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The ETS covers every employer in the Commonwealth and includes mandatory requirements for all employers (with additional requirements for workplaces

In a split vote, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board passed a first-in-the-nation standard to address COVID-19 in workplaces.

Businesses of all sizes have, understandably, been consumed by how to address the numerous pressing issues that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought. As a result, it can be easy to lose sight of the dramatic changes to Virginia employment law, which have created a significantly more employee-friendly v

Beginning July 1, 2020, the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission will begin enforcing a new law that will affect how Virginia employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers respond to initial claims for benefits filed by an injured worker.

On April 9, 2020, Governor Ralph Northam signed House Bill (HB) 330, Virginia’s first law banning covenants not to compete against “low-wage employees.”

On June 2, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 65 and Order of Public Health Emergency Six (“Executive Order 65”), which is set to take effect at 12:00 a.m. on Friday, June 5, 2020. In entering the Order, the governor cited “remarkable progress” in addressing the COVID-19

Updated June 9, 2020

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced on May 27, 2020 that the Northern Virginia Region, the City of Richmond, and Accomack County – which delayed implementing “Phase One ” of the Commonwealth’s reopening protocol by two weeks – will move into Phase One on May 29, 2020.

On May 21, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation ( HB 972 / SB 2 ) to decriminalize simple marijuana possession and prohibit employers from requiring applicants to disclose information related to past criminal charges for such possession. The law will take effect July 1, 2020.