Is Virginia the New California? Changing the Landscape for Employers in 2020

New Virginia legislation has passed that will drastically alter the status quo for employers in Virginia. Long considered an employer-friendly state, as of July 1, 2020 Virginia is changing that by redefining the employment landscape. Join attorneys, Kristina H. Vaquera and Milena Radovic, from Jackson Lewis P.C.’s Norfolk office for a complimentary webinar that will examine these new laws, explain the risks employers now face, and provide strategies and best practices to prepare for the changes to come, including:

• Virginia’s new wage theft law creates—for the first time—a private right of action for employees to sue their employers for unpaid wages, with treble damages and possible attorneys’ fees. 
• Three new independent contractor misclassification laws create a presumption that workers should be classified as employees.
• Several employment laws that took effect in 2019 impose new obligations on Virginia employers, including granting employees access to personnel records, restrictions on confidentiality in cases of sexual assault, and new pay disclosure laws.
• The Virginia Values Act expands the scope of the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, but also fundamentally changes the legal rights and remedies available to employees under the VHRA and greatly increases the costs and risks of litigation for employers.
• The whistleblower law creates an immediate private right of action for employees who are retaliated against for complaining to a supervisor, among other protected activities.
• The restrictive covenant law prohibits employers from entering into and enforcing a restrictive covenant against employees who earn less than the average weekly wage in Virginia.