AbsentEase
Virginia sick leave law & call-off rules
Virginia is a no-mandate state with an expiration date. Today, only home health workers have a statutory right to paid sick leave — but SB 199, signed May 20, 2026, extends 1-per-30 accrued sick leave to essentially everyone in three waves: employers with 50+ employees on July 1, 2027, 25+ on January 1, 2028, and all employers on January 1, 2029. A paid family and medical leave insurance program arrives on a parallel track. Attendance policies built this year should be built for the law you'll have next year. Here is where things stand in 2026.
Virginia at a glance
| Paid sick leave mandate | Home health workers only (today) — general mandate phases in July 2027 → Jan 2029 |
|---|---|
| SB 199 (signed May 2026) | 1 per 30, 40 hours/year, safe leave included; 50+ employees first |
| PFML | Enacted April 2026; contributions start April 1, 2028, benefits December 1, 2028 — up to 12 weeks at 80% of AWW, capped at the statewide AWW |
| Employment relationship | Strongly at-will — narrow Bowman public-policy exceptions |
| PTO payout at termination | Only if your policy or contract promises it |
| Final paycheck deadline | Next regular payday, fired or quit |
| Meal & rest breaks | None for anyone 16+ |
Is paid sick leave required in Virginia?
Today: only for home health workers. Since 2021, home health workers averaging 20+ hours a week (or 90+ hours a month) accrue 1 hour per 30 worked, capped at 40 hours a year (Va. Code §§ 40.1-33.3–.6). Everyone else's sick leave is policy-driven — until the SB 199 phase-in begins July 1, 2027 for 50+ employee employers, using the same 1-per-30, 40-hour architecture, plus safe-leave uses. Virginia also enacted a PFML insurance program in April 2026 (SB 2 / HB 1207): payroll contributions begin April 1, 2028, and benefits begin December 1, 2028 — up to 12 weeks at 80% of the employee's average weekly wage, capped at 100% of the statewide average weekly wage. No locality adds its own ordinance.
The SB 199 phase-in timeline
| Now (since 2021) | Home health workers only: 1 per 30, 40-hour cap, notes only at 3+ consecutive days, retaliation barred (§ 40.1-33.6) |
|---|---|
| July 1, 2027 | Employers with 50+ employees: general paid sick leave, 1 per 30, 40 hours, front-loading permitted, carryover required |
| January 1, 2028 | Threshold drops to 25+ employees |
| April 1, 2028 | PFML payroll contributions begin |
| December 1, 2028 | PFML benefits begin — up to 12 weeks at 80% of the employee's average weekly wage, capped at 100% of the statewide average weekly wage |
| January 1, 2029 | Every Virginia employer covered |
| Covered uses (2027+) | Own or family illness and preventive care (broad family definition) plus safe leave for domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking |
Implementation regulations and the model notice are due from the Commissioner of Labor and Industry by July 1, 2027. For field-service employers near the 50-employee line, the practical planning date is mid-2027, not 2029.
The federal floor that still applies
FMLA
Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."
ADA
For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.
FLSA overtime and attendance bonuses
A cash bonus promised in advance for good attendance counts as wages under federal overtime law. It has to be added into the regular rate for the weeks it covers, so any of those weeks over 40 hours owes extra overtime on the bonus, usually recalculated after the bonus is paid. State overtime law can add to this, but can't go below it. See how attendance bonuses change overtime pay.
Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Virginia
Virginia today is one of the most employer-flexible attendance environments left: strongly at-will, no general sick-leave mandate, no breaks, next-payday final checks. Two things should discipline how you use that room. First, if you employ home health workers, the 2021 law already bars retaliation and limits notes to 3+ consecutive-day absences — the mandate-state playbook applies to that slice of the workforce now. Second, the clock is running for everyone else: a 50-employee contractor's attendance policy has until July 1, 2027 before points-on-sick-days become retaliation exposure under SB 199, and the PFML program will add a parallel leave track from December 2028. Wage claims go to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry. Building the one-channel, time-stamped call-off habit now — via a call-off hotline or text-based system — means the 2027 switch is a policy edit, not an operational rebuild.
After a no call, no show termination in Virginia
| Does Virginia law define job abandonment? | No statute or regulation defines job abandonment; it is set by employer policy (16VAC5-80, the Virginia Employment Commission's benefits-adjudication chapter, contains no abandonment provision). (Va. Code § 60.2-618(1), (2)(a)-(b)) |
|---|---|
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a discharge | Upon termination of employment an employee must be paid all wages due for work performed before termination on or before the date on which the employee would have been paid for that work had employment not been terminated (i.e., the regular payday for that work). (Va. Code § 40.1-29(B)) |
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a resignation | The same rule applies to a resignation with or without notice: all wages due for work performed must be paid on or before the date the employee would have been paid for that work had employment not ended; the statute does not distinguish discharge from quitting or quits with notice from quits without notice. (Va. Code § 40.1-29(B)) |
| Accrued PTO at separation | No state requirement; owed only if your written policy promises it. No Virginia statute requires payout of accrued vacation or PTO; the statutory definition of 'wages' in § 40.1-29(A) lists hourly wages, salaries, overtime, commissions, tips and bonuses but not vacation pay, and the Department of Labor and Industry's Payment of Wage page gives no vacation-payout rule, so payout depends on the employer's policy or contract. (Va. Code § 40.1-29(A) (no vacation provision)) |
| Unemployment claims | A claimant who left work voluntarily without good cause is disqualified until performing services for an employer during 30 days or 240 hours and again becoming separated (Va. Code § 60.2-618(1)); discharge for misconduct connected with the work carries the same requalification requirement (§ 60.2-618(2)(a)), and § 60.2-618(2)(b) lists conduct that counts as misconduct. |
If a state agency later treats a "resignation" as a discharge, the discharge deadline governs, so pay by the earlier of the two when in doubt. Document each step with the no call, no show write-up and termination letter templates, which fill in Virginia's final-pay rule.
Write a no call, no show policy that fits Virginia
Start from our no call, no show policy guide and free template, or let the generator turn nine quick questions into a signature-ready policy with Virginia already selected so the protected-leave section covers the federal FMLA and ADA rules that still apply here.
PTO payout and final paychecks
| Scenario | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employee is fired or laid off | On or before the next regular payday on which they would have been paid | Va. Code § 40.1-29 |
| Employee quits | Same — next regular payday | Va. Code § 40.1-29 |
| Unused vacation / PTO | No statutory payout — only earned wages are owed, so the written policy controls | Va. Code § 40.1-29 |
| Home health sick leave | No payout required at separation | Va. Code § 40.1-33.4 |
Virginia stays simple on exits — the complexity is all in front of you, on the 2027–2029 phase-in. See how PTO accrual works.
Leave Virginia employers must (and must not) provide
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sick leave (home health) | Yes — paid | 20+ hours/week average home health workers, per the 2021 law |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid | No adverse action with reasonable notice; no forced PTO use; after 4+ hours of service, no shifts starting 5pm–3am |
| Military | Yes | USERRA (federal) plus Virginia National Guard protections |
| Voting | No | Virginia has no voting-leave statute |
| Meal & rest breaks | No | None required for workers 16 and older; only 14–15-year-olds get a mandated break |
The Virginia employer's attendance playbook
- Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
- Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
- Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
- Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
- Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.
Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.