Is your church growing? Is your ministry preparing for a new hire? Make sure your SPRC or Personnel Committee leaders are up to date on the most recent changes to Virginia Employment Law, which now specifies prohibitions and requirements related to wage and salary expectations. The primary changes are:
- Employers are now required to list the wage or salary range on all job postings.
- Employers may no longer ask a prospective hire their wage or salary history.
Publishing New Hire Salary Range
As of July 1, 2026, employers hiring in Virginia must include information regarding the expected wage or salary range for in all job postings. This new law is part of the Pay Transparency & Salary History Ban, which is intended to strengthen worker protections and promote pay equity. The law applies to both internal and external communications. It doesn’t matter if you are emailing your congregation or posting to an external source (e.g. Indeed, the Conference website, etc.), every posting, email, flyer, and advertisement must include a wage or salary range.
The law is not limited to postings regarding new positions. Every job opportunity in the life of the church requires a wage or salary range to be published, including promotions, transfers, or other employment opportunities.
The law uses the phrase “wage or salary range” to refer to the minimum and maximum wage set for the position. This range can be determined by using the approved salary for the position by your SPRC, the amount budgeted for the position in the coming year, or if an amount has not yet been set by your church, you can also use a range that reflects the actual pay being received by others in equivalent positions. The amount you end up paying for the position must fall within the posted range.
Asking New Hires for Pay History
Another key aspect of this new law is that employers may no longer ask a job applicant about previous pay from other employers. You may not request salary history from an applicant, their former employer, or any other third-party service. If the job applications your congregation has used in the past request a wage or salary history, or if your SPRC has a standard interview question that requests an applicant’s wage history, you need to remove those questions going forward.
An applicant may voluntarily offer their wage or salary history, so long as they are not coerced into providing such information. If voluntarily offered, an employer may use the applicants wage history to increase the initial offer of compensation; such voluntary information may not be used to decrease the offer of compensation.
According to this new law, the Commonwealth’s Attorney General may bring a civil action against any employer who violates the law with a penalty up to $1,000 for the first offense and up to $5,000 for any subsequent violations. If an employer receives a notice highlighting a violation of this new law, the employer is given a 15-day grace period to correct the violation. If the violation is not corrected, the employer shall be liable for any damages, including legal relief, deemed appropriate by a court.
The full law is listed in the Code of Virginia § 40.1-28.7:12.
