Virginia remote job ads now need pay ranges

Do remote jobs in Virginia now need to show pay ranges and ban pay-history questions

Yes. Virginia’s updated pay-transparency law requires a wage or salary range in job postings and hiring ads, and it bars wage-history questions during application or interview steps. The rule applies to job, promotion, transfer, and other employment opportunities posted for Virginia, so remote postings are not a safe exception just because the work happens elsewhere.

The part people get wrong is thinking “remote” removes the posting from Virginia law. The statute and the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry guidance focus on the posting and the hiring process, not on whether the person sits in an office, at home, or in another state. If the opportunity is being posted in Virginia, the posting needs a range, and the employer cannot ask for wage or salary history in the covered process.

The ban is broader than a simple question on an application form. Virginia’s official guidance says employers may not request wage or salary history from the applicant, the applicant’s former employer, or a third-party service. The Code of Virginia also says that if an applicant volunteers salary history without prompting, the employer can use that information only within the statute’s limits and federal law.

The pay-range rule is not satisfied by a vague sentence like “competitive pay” or “DOE.” The law defines a wage or salary range as a minimum and maximum set in good faith, using an applicable pay scale, a previously determined range, actual pay for equivalent roles, or the budgeted amount for the position. If the posting leaves out the range, it does not meet the disclosure requirement.

The inconvenient part is that employers need to clean up more than the public job ad. Virginia’s labor department guidance tells employers to review internal postings, interview guides, and recruiters who post on the employer’s behalf, because the same pay-range and wage-history rules can be triggered there too. A remote role posted by a recruiter still needs the same careful review.

A practical example: a company in Richmond posts a fully remote software engineer role, open to Virginia applicants. Under the current Virginia rule, the listing should include a real wage or salary range, and the recruiter should not ask, “What did you make at your last job?” If the candidate volunteers prior pay, the employer can only use it within the limits written into the statute.

The date matters. Virginia’s Department of Labor and Industry says the new worker-protection laws, including pay transparency and the salary-history ban, apply beginning July 1, 2026. If a page, template, or ATS workflow still reflects older habits, that material is already behind the current rule.

Remote hiring teams usually miss the same three spots. First, they leave the range out of evergreen postings. Second, they keep salary-history questions in a standard recruiter script. Third, they assume an out-of-state employer can ignore Virginia once the job is remote. The statute and the state guidance point the other way: if the opportunity is covered in Virginia, the posting and the questions are covered too.

If you are updating a hiring flow, start with the job template, not the final ad. Add a good-faith wage range, remove salary-history questions from application fields and interview notes, and tell recruiters not to ask for prior pay directly or through a third party. If you need a place to post roles that are about real collaboration instead of noise, DevConnect keeps that process simple and free. https://devconnectplatform.com

One more detail is easy to miss: Virginia’s law also covers internal postings and other employment opportunities, so this is not only a public job-board issue. A promotion post, a transfer post, or an internal remote opening can still trigger the same disclosure and wage-history rules if it falls within the statute’s scope.

For a hiring team, the safest reading is simple. If you are posting a remote role for Virginia, include a real range and remove wage-history questions. If you are building an application flow, assume any salary-history field will be treated as off-limits unless the applicant voluntarily brings it up and the statute allows limited follow-up.

FAQ

Does this apply to employers outside Virginia Virginia’s law applies to covered postings and hiring activity tied to Virginia, so an out-of-state employer is not automatically outside the rule just because the company is elsewhere. The safer assumption is to treat the posting as covered if it is aimed at Virginia applicants or posted for work in Virginia.

Can an employer ask what salary I want instead of what I made before Yes. The law bans wage-history questions, not discussions about expected pay. Virginia’s materials distinguish salary history from the wage or salary range that must appear in the posting, so employers should use their stated range rather than ask for prior compensation.

Is “competitive salary” enough in the posting No. Virginia’s law requires a wage or salary range, and the statute defines that range as a minimum and maximum set in good faith. A phrase with no numbers does not satisfy that requirement.

What if a candidate brings up their old salary first Virginia allows limited reliance on voluntarily provided salary history, but only within the statute’s rules and federal law. That is a narrow exception, not a reason to ask for the information up front or to build salary-history fields into the process.

When did the new rule start Virginia’s Department of Labor and Industry says the new laws, including pay transparency and the salary-history ban, began on July 1, 2026. That is the date to use for current compliance checks.