- Frequency of Wage Payments
- Manner of Wage Payments
- Direct Deposit
- Payroll Card
- Payment upon Separation from Employment
- Wages in Dispute
- Deductions from Wages
- Uniforms, Tools, and Other Equipment Necessary for Employment
- Pre-hire Medical, Physical, or Drug Tests
- Notice of Wage Reduction
- Statement of Wages (Pay Stub)
- Record Keeping Requirements
- Notice Requirements
Frequency of Wage Payments
All employers must establish regular pay periods. All hourly employees must be paid at least once every two weeks or twice in each month. Salaried employees must be paid at least once per month. Employees who may also be paid once per month include students enrolled in a work-study program or its equivalent, and employees whose weekly wages exceed 150% of the average weekly rate of the state, see VA Statute 65.2-500, VA Statute 40.1-29
Manner of Wage Payments
Wages can be paid by:
- cash,
- check payable at face value (an option must be available for the employee to cash the check without paying a fee),
- direct deposit, and
- credit to a prepaid debit or card account.
Direct Deposit
An employer may pay an employee by direct deposit into an account in the name of the employee at a financial institution designated by the employee. An employer may choose to pay employees hired after January 1, 2010 by direct deposit instead of cash or check. VA Statute 40.1-29
Payroll Card
Virginia labor laws allow employers to pay employees by credit to a prepaid debit card or card account from which the employee is able to withdraw or transfer funds with full written disclosure by the employer of any applicable fees and affirmative consent thereto by the employee.
If an employer elects not to pay an employee hired after January 1, 2010 by cash or check, the employer may require the employee to be paid by payroll card, even if the employee has not affirmatively consented, if:
- the employee fails to designate an account at a financial institution required for being paid by direct deposit and
- the employer arranges for the payroll card to be issued through a network system through which the employee has the ability to make at least one (1) free withdrawal or transfer per pay period for any sum available on the card at financial institutions participating in payroll card network system.
Payment upon Separation from Employment
An employer must pay an employee who is discharged or terminated, who has quit or resigned, or who is laid off, all wage due on or before the date the employer would have normally paid the employee for the work. VA Statute 40.1-29
Employees who are suspended or resigns due to a labor dispute (strike)
Virginia has no law regarding when an employer must pay an employee who has resigned due to a labor dispute. Presumably an employer would pay an employee who resigns employment due to a labor dispute on or before the date he would have normally been paid for the work.
Wages in Dispute
Virginia does not have any laws requiring an employer to pay an employee wages conceded to be due when involved in a wage dispute with the employee.
Deductions from Wages
An employer may not deduct any of the following from an employee’s wages unless the employee has consented in writing:
- shortages,
- damages,
- rent,
- uniforms,
- tools, or
- any other necessary item.
An employer may not withhold or deduct any portion of an employee’s wages unless:
- required or authorized by law, or
- the employee consents in writing.
An employer cannot require employees, except executive personnel, to sign agreements permitting deduction of wages that are not otherwise legally permitted.
Uniforms, Tools, and Other Equipment Necessary for Employment
Virginia does not have any laws prohibiting an employer from requiring an employee to purchase a uniform, tools, or other items necessary for employment.
Pre-hire Medical, Physical, or Drug Tests
An employer may not require an employee or applicant to pay the cost of a medical examination or the cost of furnishing any medical records required by the employer as a condition of employment. VA Statute 40.1-28
Notice of Wage Reduction
Virginia labor laws do not specifically require employers to advise an employee of any change to his or her wage rate before the hours are worked.
Statement of Wages (Pay Stub)
Virginia labor laws require an employer to provide an employee, except an employee engaged in agricultural employment including agribusiness and forestry, on each regular pay day a written statement by pay stub or online, that shows:
- the name and address of the employer
- the number of hours worked during the pay period if the employee is paid on the basis of:
- the number of hours worked or
- a salary that is less than the standard salary level adopted by regulation of the U.S. Department of Labor pursuant to § 13(a)(1) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1), as amended, establishing an exemption from the Act’s overtime premium pay requirements
- the rate of pay
- the gross wages earned by the employee during the pay period
- the amount and purpose of any deductions
- sufficient information to enable the employee to determine how the employer calculated the employee’s gross and net pay
For an employee engaged in agricultural employment including agribusiness and forestry, an employer must provide the employee with a written statement including the gross wages earned by the employee during the pay period and the amount and purpose of any deductions.
Record Keeping Requirements
An employer must maintain records reasonably protected against damage or loss containing the following information for each worker:
- full legal name;
- social security number;
- the state or states in which his services are performed; and if any of such services are performed outside the Commonwealth of Virginia not incidental to the services within the Commonwealth of Virginia, his base of operations with respect to such services (or if there is no base of operations then the place from which such services are directed or controlled) and his residence (by state). Where the services are performed outside the United States, the country in which performed;
- the date of hire, rehire, or return to work after temporary lay off;
- the date when work ceased and the reason for such cessation;
- scheduled hours (except for workers without a fixed schedule of hours, such as those working outside their employer’s establishment in such a manner that the employer has no record or definite knowledge of their working hours);
- wages earned in any week by a partially employed individual as such individual is defined in VA Admin. Code 16:5-10-10;
- whether any week was in fact a week of less than full-time work;
- time lost, if any, by each such worker, and the reason therefor;
- total wages in each pay period, and the total wages payable for all pay periods ending in each quarter, showing separately (i) money wages, including tips and dismissal or severance pay, and (ii) the cash value of other remuneration;
- any special payments for service other than those rendered exclusively in a given quarter, such as annual bonuses, gifts, prizes, etc., showing separately (i) money payments, (ii) other remuneration, and (iii) nature of said payments;
- amounts paid each worker as advancement, allowance or reimbursement for traveling or other business expenses, dates of payment, and the amounts of expenditures actually incurred and accounted for by such worker;
- location in which the worker’s services are performed within or outside of the United States and dates such services are performed outside of the United States. For the purposes of this subdivision, “United States” means the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Virginia labor laws do not establish a time limit for retaining the information is provided.
Notice Requirements
Virginia does not have any laws requiring employers to provide employees of notice of wage rates, dates of pay, employment policies, fringe benefits, or other terms and conditions of employment.
