What does Virginia's SB 199 require and when?

Accrued paid sick leave at 1 hour per 30 worked, capped at 40 hours a year, with carryover, front-loading permitted, and covered uses including family care and safe leave. Phase-in: 50+ employees July 2027, 25+ January 2028, all employers January 2029, with regulations and a model notice due by July 2027.

Can you fire someone for calling in sick in Virginia?

Generally yes, for now — Virginia is strongly at-will and (outside home health) has no sick-leave protection until the SB 199 phase-in reaches you. The limits are federal (FMLA, ADA) plus jury-duty and other narrow statutory protections. That answer starts changing July 1, 2027 for larger employers.

Does Virginia have paid family leave?

It will: Virginia enacted a state PFML insurance program in April 2026 — roughly 12 weeks at 80% wage replacement — with benefits beginning in 2028. It runs parallel to SB 199's sick leave, so by 2028–2029 Virginia employers will administer both short-duration sick time and longer family/medical leave.

When is the final paycheck due in Virginia?

On or before the next regular payday on which the employee would have been paid — the same rule whether they were fired or quit.

What are the current rules for home health workers?

Since 2021: home health workers averaging 20+ hours a week or 90+ hours a month accrue 1 hour of paid sick leave per 30 worked, up to 40 hours a year, with carryover. Documentation may be required only for absences of 3 or more consecutive workdays, retaliation is prohibited, and employees can't be made to find their own replacement.

Virginia sick leave law & call-off rules

Q: Is paid sick leave required in Virginia?

Today, only for home health workers averaging 20+ hours a week — 1 hour per 30 worked, up to 40 hours a year. But SB 199, signed May 20, 2026, extends the same architecture to employers with 50+ employees on July 1, 2027, 25+ on January 1, 2028, and everyone on January 1, 2029.

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	State insurance program enacted April 2026; ~12 weeks at 80%, benefits from 2028
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 (~12 weeks at 80% wage replacement, benefits beginning 2028). 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; PFML benefits (~12 weeks at 80%) also begin
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.

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 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.

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.

Note: This is general information for Virginia private-sector employers as of 2026, not legal advice. Federal contractors and public employers have additional rules, and laws change. Confirm specifics with qualified counsel.

Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.

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