Compliance Stuff

Employers will soon be obligated to provide employees with severance benefits if they want to have an enforceable noncompete in Virginia and they also will be prohibited from entering into noncompetes with health care professionals, except in connection with the sale of a business. These obligations and several other new restrictions are part of  Senate Bill 170  and  House Bill 627 , landmark legislation recently passed by the General Assembly and slated to take effect on July 1, 2026. The new noncompete legislation applies to  all  employees and categorically bans noncompetes for almost all health care professionals, in sharp contrast to Virginia’s existing noncompete statutes, which currently cover only low-wage employees, including hourly employees. Moreover, because of recent case law from the Court of Appeals of Virginia in  Sentry Force Security, LLC v. Barrera , 2026 WL 200848 (Va. Ct. App. Jan. 27, 2026), the new legislation will also apply to co...

Employers in Virginia should be aware of legislation that would make it even harder to enforce non-competes. This is the latest in a series of moves curbing such agreements in the state. Specifically, the Virginia House of Representatives passed a bill on March 4 that would limit an employer’s ability to enforce a non-compete agreement against laid off or fired employees, unless the termination is “for-cause.” The bill, which also passed the state Senate in early February, is now headed to Governor Abigail Spanberger – and we expect her to sign it into law. Here’s what employers in Virginia need to know and a five-step action plan for compliance. New Limit on Enforceability If signed into law, SB 170 will void employee non-competes for workers who are laid off without severance or other compensation. According to the bill, this will apply to all involuntary terminations, except in “for-cause” terminations. These restrictions would apply to all non-compete agreements signed on or afte...

  Virginia is poised to further expand its restrictions on employee non-competes. The Virginia legislature r ecently passed   SB 170   (the “SB 170”), making employee non-competes unenforceable if an employer terminates an employee without cause and does not provide severance or other monetary compensation . This new requirement applies to non-competes for employees at all levels regardless of compensation. Failure to comply with SB 170 can lead to civil penalties and private rights of action with recovery of attorney fees and damages. SB 170 is headed to Governor Abigail Spanberger, who is expected to sign it. This development is the latest in the growing patchwork of state non-compete laws. Although the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC’s”) nationwide non-compete rule has been  sidelined , scrutiny of restrictive covenants at the FTC remains. States, such as  Colorado ,  Illinois , and  Minnesota , continue to pass laws seeking to limit or ban employ...