State Update Overview
| Date Updated | August 2023 |
| Labor Law Update | The State of Virginia Safety and Health (VOSH) Law; EEOC “Know Your Rights” and DOL “Employee Rights Under the FLSA” Posters |
| What Changed | Penalty amounts and new address; Recently enacted Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and Provide Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP) |
| Mandatory or Non-Mandatory | Mandatory |
| Updated Poster | Virginia Labor Law Poster |
In August 2023, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry published an updated Job Safety and Health Protection poster with increased penalty amounts for violators of VOSH law.
Virginia VOSH Law Update
- Increased penalty amount of up to $15,375 for each serious and non-serious violation.
- Increased daily penalty amount of up to $15,375 for failing to correct a violation.
- Employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the law may incur an increased penalty amount of up to $153,742 for each violation.
- New address for the Northern Virginia/Manassas Occupational Safety and Health Office.
Effective June 27, 2023, the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an undue hardship. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated its “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” Poster to summarize the new law.
EEOC “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” Poster Updates
- Illegal employment discrimination on the bases of sex includes childbirth.
- Illegal employment discrimination includes interference, coercion, or threats related to exercising rights regarding disability discrimination or pregnancy accommodation.
- Failure to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition can be considered discriminatory.
- Discriminatory employment practice can include conduct that coerces, intimidates, threatens, or interferes with someone exercising their rights, or someone assisting or encouraging someone else to exercise rights, regarding disability discrimination (including accommodation) or pregnancy accommodation.
Effective April 28, 2023, the Provide Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP) extends the right to receive break time to pump and a private place to pump at work to more nursing employees. The federal Department of Labor (DOL) revised its “Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act” poster to include changes from the new law.
DOL “Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act” Poster Updates
- The section titled Nursing Mothers has been changed to Pump at Work.
- The right to break time to express breast milk previously only applied to employees subject to the overtime requirement under the FLSA (non-exempt employees). This reference has been removed.
- The revised poster clearly notes that narrow exemptions may apply to the pump at work requirements.
Virginia Labor Law Poster Update
All businesses within the State of Virginia must display the “Job Safety and Health Protection”, “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal”, and “Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act” posters along with other state and federally mandated posting requirements where they are sufficiently accessible and viewable to all employees. These changes have been reflected in our Virginia & Federal Labor Law Poster and require an immediate mandatory update. Failure to meet compliance requirements and display the updated posters could result in fines.
Order the Virginia & Federal Labor Law Poster to immediately include these new required state and federal laws.
