Virginia Passes Law Allowing Collective Actions For Failure to Pay Overtime

Virginia employees now have another way to collect the wages they are owed.

On March 31, 2021, Virginia's governor signed a law that gave employees more protections under the Virginia Overtime Act. Like the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Virginia Overtime Wage Act requires employers to pay one and one-half times an employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. And now, beginning July 1, 2021, employees will be able to pursue state-law overtime claims as collective actions.

The new law allows collective actions “consistent with the collective action procedures of the Fair Labor Standards Act” for violations under the Virginia Overtime Wage Act.

The new Virginia law is also better for employees because it has a longer statute of limitations than the FLSA and calculates the regular rate of pay differently from the FLSA. 

The bottom line is that now, under the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, employees can join together to take on an employer rather than being forced to recover unpaid wages on their own.

If you have any questions about the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, or if you are a Virginia employee who has been denied overtime pay, contact us today for a free, confidential case assessment.