Virginia Dems pass bills for family, medical and paid sick leave

Following the passage Monday of a $15 hourly minimum wage bill, legislation creating a state family and medical leave insurance program and a measure requiring employers to provide paid sick leave are progressing in Virginia’s Democratic-majority legislature.

On Tuesday, Democrats in the Virginia State Senate passed Senate Bill 2 with a 21-19 party-line vote, and the House of Delegates passed a twin bill 62-34. The legislation calls for the Virginia Employment Commission to establish a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2029.

Funding for the program will be provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees starting Jan. 1, 2028, the legislature’s summary notes, and employees in the program will receive 80% of their average weekly wage while on leave, while not exceeding 100% of the state’s average weekly wage. That figure will be adjusted annually to reflect changes in average wages.

The legislation also caps the amount of paid leave per year at 12 weeks and allows self-employed people to participate.

On Monday, Democrats in the House of Delegates passed House Bill 5 on a 63-35 party-line vote. The measure would require private employers and state and local governments to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. State law currently makes that provision for home health workers, but the bill sponsored by Democratic Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler expands coverage to many other Virginia employees. It would go into effect July 1, 2027, and the bill authorizes the state commissioner of labor and industry to fine employers civil penalties for violations.

A first violation’s fine would not exceed $150, a second would not exceed $300, and subsequent penalties would go up to $500, the bill says.

Chief sponsor of the Senate bill, Democratic Sen. Jennifer Boysko, said in a statement that the FMLA legislation had been “eight years in the making,” including the past two years, when it was passed by the Democratic-controlled state legislature but vetoed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

As with the state’s minimum wage, paid sick leave and medical and family leave insurance bills now have a clear path to enactment with Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger in office. Both bills will now progress to the other legislative bodies for subsequent votes before reaching the governor’s desk.

“We can be the best state for business and the best state for working families,” Spanberger said in her first address as governor to the full state legislature last month. “That is not an either-or proposition. That is why we will create a statewide paid family and medical leave program, guarantee paid sick days, increase access to Virginia’s child care subsidy program, and yes, Virginia — at long last, raise our minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour.”