What Virginia’s New Pay Transparency Law Means for the University of Richmond’s Hiring Process

Effective July 1, 2026, Virginia law prohibits anyone involved in the hiring process from requiring or requesting a candidate’s wage or salary history information and requires that all job postings include a specific wage, salary, or pay range. 

Moving forward, all internal and external job ads and postings for open positions, transfers, and promotions must include the wage, salary, or wage or salary range for the position.  The wage or salary range is defined as the minimum and maximum wage or salary for the position, set in good faith by reference to any applicable pay scale, any previously determined wage or salary range for the position, the actual range of wages or salaries for persons currently holding equivalent positions, or the budgeted amount available for the position.

But how does this impact the hiring process? Anyone involved in the hiring process, may not:

• Ask candidates what they currently earn or what they've earned in the past on applications, in interviews, or through references or background checks;
• Consider a candidate’s wage or salary history when making decisions about interviewing or hiring a candidate;
• Consider a candidate’s wage or salary history when determining the wage or salary to include in an initial offer of employment; or
• Refuse to consider, interview, hire or promote someone who did not provide their wage or salary history or to retaliate in any way against that person;

Furthermore, hiring managers must ensure that all search committee members and interviewers are aware of their obligations under Virginia law as listed above.

If a candidate voluntarily and without prompting provides their salary or wage history in the application or during the interview process, that information must be disregarded when making decisions about whether to interview or offer employment to the candidate and what wage or salary amount to include in an initial offer.

If, after initial offer is extended to a candidate, the candidate voluntarily shares their wage or salary history, after consultation with the area’s Talent Acquisition Specialist, the hiring manager may: (a) seek to confirm such wage or salary if they are considering increasing the wage or salary offer; and (b) increase the initial wage or salary offer to the extent such increase otherwise complies with the University’s non-discrimination policies and applicable non-discrimination laws.

Hiring managers may not use voluntarily shared history to justify a lower offer or to anchor the negotiation downward.

It’s important to note that Human Resources is here to help. If you have questions or concerns about what can and cannot be asked of candidates during the hiring process, please reach out to your Talent Acquisition Specialist for additional guidance. Human Resources also ensures that all job postings for all positions contain a specific wage, salary, or pay range in compliance with the law. If you’re a hiring manager, the Human Resources team encourages you to visit and save their Practical Guide for Hiring Managers and Search Committees to familiarize yourself with this new legislation.