Virginia remote job postings now need salary ranges

Do Virginia job postings now need salary ranges for remote applicants

Yes. Virginia now requires a wage or salary range in each job posting and hiring advertisement, and the current rule applies to remote roles too when the posting is for work in Virginia. The key point is the posting, not where the applicant sits.

The statute says an employer must disclose the wage, salary, or wage or salary range in each public and internal posting for every job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity. Virginia’s Department of Labor and Industry says the change applies to all job postings and hiring advertisements in Virginia beginning July 1, 2026.

People usually get tripped up on the word remote. Remote does not create a carve-out by itself. If the role is being advertised as a Virginia opportunity, or the employer is posting it for a Virginia opening, the salary range belongs in the posting the same way it would for an on-site role.

The rule is about what appears in the job ad. It is not a rule about where the applicant happens to live, and it is not satisfied by telling candidates the pay range later in an interview. The posting itself has to carry the range, in good faith, before someone applies.

The part people often miss is the phrase “each public and internal posting.” Internal openings are covered too. A manager cannot leave the range out of an employee-only posting and then add it only after someone asks. Virginia law treats that omission the same way it treats a missing range on a public ad.

The range also has to be real. Virginia defines a wage or salary range as the minimum and maximum wage or salary for the position, set in good faith by reference to a pay scale, a prior range for the role, current equivalent roles, or the budgeted amount for the position. That means a fake spread or a number that is not actually available can create a compliance problem.

For remote postings, the practical step is simple: decide which Virginia job the ad is for, then publish the range in the same posting where you list duties, location, and hours. If the role can be filled from anywhere but is still being recruited through Virginia channels for a Virginia-based position, the safer reading is to include the range up front.

The inconvenient part is that a remote posting can reach people in more than one state, and states do not all use the same pay-transparency rule. Virginia’s law answers the Virginia question. If you recruit nationally, you still need to satisfy Virginia for Virginia-covered postings, even if another state has a different or narrower rule.

A concrete example helps. Suppose you post “Remote Customer Support Specialist, Richmond, Virginia” and accept applicants from anywhere. Under Virginia’s current rule, that ad should include a wage or salary range. If the same company posts a role that is not a Virginia opportunity at all, Virginia’s statute may not be the governing rule, but the posting should be checked against the law that does apply.

The consequence of getting this wrong is not subtle. The statute allows a civil penalty for failing to disclose the range, and it also creates a cause of action. In other words, this is not a wording preference, it is a compliance item that belongs in the posting process before the job goes live.

If you are auditing your jobs, do three things: first, flag every Virginia posting and every remote role that is being advertised as a Virginia job. Second, make sure the range appears in the posting itself, not just in a recruiter note or interview script. Third, confirm the range is a real good-faith range, not a placeholder.

For state government jobs, Virginia’s own hiring policy already requires a hiring salary range in job postings. That lines up with the statute and removes the excuse that pay information can be handled later. For private employers, the statute is the controlling rule, and the same basic posting habit is the cleanest way to stay out of trouble.

If you want a simple operational rule, use this: if the posting could be treated as a Virginia job posting, include the salary range in the ad before it is published. That is the lowest-friction way to handle remote jobs and the easiest way to avoid a rejected posting, a complaint, or a scramble after applicants already saw the ad.

For teams that need a place to organize compliant hiring work, DevConnect is free to use, and it is built for people who want to coordinate real testing and hiring work without paid tiers or gatekeeping: https://devconnectplatform.com.

The one thing this page does not do is turn every remote job into a Virginia job. The rule is about Virginia-covered postings. If you are hiring outside Virginia, you still need to check the law for that place. If you are hiring in Virginia, or posting a Virginia role remotely, the salary range belongs in the posting.

Bottom line: yes, Virginia job postings now need salary ranges, and remote applicants do not change that. The safest reading is that if the role is posted as a Virginia opportunity, the range must appear in the posting itself.