A paid family and medical leave program will be set up for the first time in Virginia after Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signed legislation from Fairfax County state Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-38) and Prince William County Del. Briana Sewell (D-25).
Boysko, who represents Reston, Herndon, Great Falls and McLean in the Virginia Senate, told FFXnow she has worked on the legislation for eight years.
The leave program, which will begin in April 1, 2028, will be paid for through a shared employer and employee payroll contribution system. Boysko says it equates to $5 from a weekly paycheck for an employee making $50,000.
Currently, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act allows employees to get up to 12 weeks of leave and maintain insurance for qualifying family or medical events, but it does not require pay during the leave.
“More than half of the Virginia workers don’t qualify [for FMLA], or they can’t afford to take the time off without pay,” Boysko said. “And so, my bill that we just passed will help by creating an insurance program that will be fully funded … in small contributions of half of a percent of a person’s salary, and through that insurance program, when they have a qualifying event, [they] would be able to take up to eight weeks off and have up to 80% of their salary so that they don’t have to go broke and [can] care for themselves or their loved ones.”
Spanberger noted Virginia is the first state in the south to set up a paid family and medical leave program.
“Thanks to this landmark law, millions of Virginians will no longer be forced to give up their paycheck when they welcome a child, or when their loved one faces a serious illness,” Spanberger said in a release. “Leaders in the General Assembly have worked for close to a decade to pass this landmark legislation, and I congratulate them on their relentless effort as we take this historic step forward for workers and families across Virginia.”
When crafting and championing her bill, Boysko drew from personal experience when her daughter was born premature and had to stay at the hospital 20 miles from home.
“My husband did not have leave, and I had a toddler at home,” Boysko said. “I was recovering from a C-section and having been very, very ill, we had to have the baby because I was about to die, and I was by myself. And so, we have the other baby in the hospital, we have me and the toddler at home, and we could not afford for him to take off the time without pay.”
Boysko has heard stories from families around Virginia facing similar decisions, covering everything from caring for relatives with cancer to end-of-life care for older parents. She also says it will help younger adults start families.
“This would make that more possible for them to navigate [maintaining a two-person income], but have the grace to care for welcoming a new baby in which we all celebrate,” Boysko said.
Spanberger made several changes in a substitute bill, which the General Assembly accepted during its reconvened session Wednesday (April 22).
Boysko said the governor put a four-week cap on leave for recovery services, mental health treatment or domestic violence, matching a limit set in other states. Spanberger also tightened up guidelines to make people who are legally present and able to work in the U.S. eligible for the program, and better clarified who is considered a family member that would make an employee eligible for leave.
Small employers with 10 or less workers would not have to pay into the program, but their employees would still be eligible to participate.
The 2028 implementation date recognizes the time needed to start up a major program like this, Boysko says. The program will start taking payroll contributions on April 1, 2028 before benefits launch on Dec. 1, 2028, and the state will conduct actuarial studies to ensure it’s run effectively.
Spanberger also signed Boysko’s SB 215 (and a companion bill from Del. Michelle Maldonado) prohibiting employers from seeking job candidates’ salary or wage history. Under the legislation, job candidates will not have to disclose their pay, and employers will need to provide a salary range in a job posting.
Boysko says this strategy has proven to be effective in helping level out wage gaps, and job listing companies like Indeed have advocated for the legislation for years.
“In Virginia, women still are [making] 75 cents for every dollar that men earn,” Boysko said. “And that compounds itself over the lifetime to show that women are losing out about a half a million dollars over the course of a 40-year career, and [for] Black women and Latina women and other women minorities, it’s even larger. It’s more like a million dollars so, and women are quite often required to run the household.”
Spanberger’s substitute, which the General Assembly also endorsed on Wednesday, tightened up the bill language around liability and adjusted the penalties to $1,000 for the first violation and up to $5,000 for subsequent violations.
The amended legislation allows action to be taken against employers for a violation through the attorney general’s office, not a class action lawsuit. Boysko said legislators also responded to Chamber of Commerce feedback by allowing employers that did not provide a salary range upfront to have time to correct it.
“I think that her amendments were fine, tightening things up so that it’s not going to be abused, and [I’m] looking forward to helping to close the wage gap and make Virginia a place that’s good for employees and employers and women and families,” Boysko said. “Both of these bills are aimed at that.”
