Virginia Pay Transparency: Post Ranges, Ban Pay-History Questions, Add Non-Retaliation
A practical compliance edit: publish a defensible pay range, remove pay-history questions, and add non-retaliation language.
Post a range that matches the budget
Virginia pay transparency becomes enforceable on July 1, 2026, under SB 215. The first edit is the job posting. From that date, Virginia employers must include a good-faith wage or salary range in every public and internal job posting. The range is the minimum and maximum pay for the role. It also covers promotions and internal transfers, not just new hires.
Pull the numbers from the approved budget or the existing pay scale for the role. Do not use a number that exists only to make the posting look competitive. A maximum above the budget makes the posting a compliance issue before the first applicant calls. A defensible range is one your compensation data can support.
Good-faith range: [minimum]–[maximum], reflecting the approved budget for the role.
Done looks like the same range appearing on the career site, the internal job board, and the requisition. Budget changes require a posting update before the next applicant sees it.
Stop the pay-history question before it reaches the interview
SB 215 bars Virginia employers from asking for a candidate’s prior pay. It also bars using that history to evaluate the candidate or to set the starting wage or salary. The edit is not just a line in the application. It has to reach the interview guide, the scorecard, and the debrief notes. A clean scorecard asks about the role, not the candidate’s last paycheck.
Remove any prompt that asks for old pay, current pay, or expected pay tied to the last job. Train interviewers to ask about skills, availability, and the candidate’s stated expectations instead. Voluntary prior pay may support only a wage or salary above the initial offer. A lower number cannot be justified by that information.
We do not ask about prior pay. What compensation range are you targeting?
The interviewer is ready when old pay is not a routine question. The script is complete when the application, interview guide, and scorecard all omit the question. A candidate who brings up prior pay can be acknowledged, and the conversation can return to the posted range.
Add non-retaliation language where people can find it
Virginia law bars employers from retaliating against a prospective or current employee. The protected conduct is simple: the person declines to share prior pay or asks for a particular wage or salary range. The handbook should say that plainly.
The company will not refuse to interview, hire, employ, or promote a prospective or current employee. The same protection applies when the person declines to share prior pay or asks about a particular wage or salary range.
Put the clause in the handbook section that covers hiring, compensation, or anti-retaliation. Offer letters can carry a short sentence too. The clause should be short enough that a new hire can find it without asking. A candidate who asks for a range should receive a normal response, not a negative one.
The three edits should match. The posted range guides the offer. The interview script keeps prior pay out of the evaluation. The handbook clause protects the person who asks or declines. A missing piece makes the process easier to challenge.
Check the process before the deadline
Before the deadline, run a quick audit of the three pieces. The audit can be done in one sitting if the files are organized. Pull a public posting, an internal posting, and a promotion posting. Confirm each one shows the good-faith range. Pull the application and the interview guide. Confirm neither asks for prior pay. Pull the handbook. Confirm the non-retaliation clause is present.
A missing range on an internal transfer needs a fix before the transfer is announced. An interview guide that still asks for old pay needs removal before the next interview. A handbook without the clause needs an update before the next onboarding cycle. The deadline calls for a consistent process, not a fix for one job ad.
The finished file is a simple record that shows the range source, the removed question, and the handbook clause. That record is not a substitute for the edits, but it helps when someone asks how the process was fixed.