What it means for you
Since July 1, 2026, a Virginia employer that threatens a worker over their or their family's immigration status to get around wage laws can be fined up to $12,000 per violation. Workers have 180 days to file a complaint with the state.
Who benefits: Workers in Virginia, including employees of the state and local governments, whose employer uses threats about their or their family's immigration status to underpay them or keep them from claiming their wages.
In Virginia, your employer can’t use your immigration status, or your family’s, to get away with breaking wage laws. Threatening to call immigration authorities so you’ll accept less than the minimum wage, or so you won’t ask for pay you’re owed, is now illegal. This covers private businesses and also the state, its agencies, and local governments.
If it happens to you, you can file a complaint with the state Commissioner of Labor and Industry within 180 days. Someone else can also report it, and the commissioner can investigate without a complaint. Your name stays confidential unless you agree to share it. If the commissioner confirms the threat, the employer can be fined up to $5,000 for a first violation, $9,000 for a second, and $12,000 for each one after that. Each threat against each worker counts separately. The fines go to the state, not to you, but you keep every other right you have to recover your wages.
Del. Michelle Maldonado carried the bill. It passed the Senate 21–19 and the House 64–35. Gov. Abigail Spanberger proposed removing the references to immigration status, but in April lawmakers declined to take up her change. She signed the bill as passed on May 14, 2026, and it took effect July 1.
Work and wagesRights
Sources
- HB 675, Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status; civil penaltyVirginia Legislative Information System
- § 40.1-28.7:13. Coercion or threat based on immigration status; civil penaltyCode of Virginia
- Spanberger Nixes Immigration Wording From Worker Coercion BillBloomberg Law, April 14, 2026
- General Assembly Meets to Wrap Up 2026 Regular Session, Convene Special SessionVirginia Association of Counties, April 24, 2026
How we checked this
Drafted by Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic) on November 12, 2026. Checked against its sources by GPT-5.6-sol (OpenAI) on November 12, 2026, with no problems found. Confirmed the enacted text, penalty schedule, effective and signing dates, sponsorship, both final roll calls, and current in-effect status as of November 12, 2026.
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