What changed in Virginia on July 1, and why does it matter for the money conversation?
The short version: employers can no longer pry into what you earned before, and they must show their cards on pay. According to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, beginning July 1, 2026, Virginia employers are prohibited from seeking your wage or salary history during the application or interview process. They cannot ask you, they cannot ask a former employer, and they cannot buy it from a third-party service. In the same law, every job posting and hiring advertisement in Virginia must now include a wage or salary range.
That combination shifts the negotiation dynamic. For years, the salary question functioned as a trap: name your past pay and you effectively capped your future offer. Now the burden moves the other way. The employer has to publish a number first, and you get to respond to it rather than blindly reveal your history.
So what do you actually say when they ask about pay expectations?
Anchor your answer to the posted range, not to what you used to make. Because the range is now required to appear in the posting, you can reference it directly and confidently.
A clean response sounds like this: "I saw the range for this role is X to Y. Based on the scope you have described and the experience I would bring, I am targeting the upper portion of that band. I would like to hear your offer and we can go from there." This does three things. It shows you did your homework, it positions you high without sounding greedy, and it invites them to make the first concrete offer.
If they somehow ask what you earned previously, you are on firm legal ground to decline. You can say plainly, "Under Virginia law I understand that is not something employers ask about now, and I would rather focus on the value I bring to this position and the range you have posted." You are not being difficult; you are stating the law. And the protection is real. According to the statutory text of SB 215, codified at Virginia Code 40.1-28.7:12, an employer may not retaliate against you, refuse to interview you, refuse to hire you, or decline to promote you because you would not provide wage history or because you asked for the range.
What if I volunteer my past salary anyway? Can it help me?
Only in one narrow direction, so be deliberate. The statute allows an employer to rely on pay history that you disclose voluntarily and unprompted, but only to support a wage higher than their initial offer, per the SB 215 text.
The practical takeaway is that sharing a previous salary can never legally be used to pull your offer down; it can only be used to push it up. So if you were paid strongly in a prior role and the initial offer comes in below that, mentioning it may work in your favor. If your past pay was modest, keep it to yourself and let the posted range and your qualifications carry the conversation. The choice is entirely yours, and the law is designed so that silence never costs you.
The posted range looks huge. How do I read it?
Treat the range as a starting frame, not gospel, and expect some employers to post wide bands. Legal commentators at Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP, in a May 6, 2026 analysis, note that the law requires a good-faith range, meaning the lowest and highest pay the employer would reasonably consider at the time of posting, and that vague phrases like "competitive compensation" no longer satisfy the requirement.
Still, good faith is not the same as narrow. Commentary published in Virginia Business by Charles D. Hatley on July 2, 2026, the day after the law took effect, warns that while postings must now include a number, the statute only demands a good-faith range and does not guarantee a meaningful one, so you may encounter very broad bands that reveal little about actual pay.
When the range is wide, do more digging before you name a figure. Ask clarifying questions in the interview about where this specific role and level would fall within the band. You can ask directly: "That is a broad range. For someone with my background at this level, where in that band would you expect this role to land?" A hiring manager who cannot or will not narrow it is telling you something useful about how they think about pay.
How do I use all of this to negotiate?
Build your target number on evidence, then let the employer speak first. Because the range is public, you no longer negotiate in the dark. Decide, before the conversation, where in the posted band you belong based on your experience, the specific responsibilities described, and comparable roles in your market. Aim for the upper third if your background supports it, and be ready to justify that with concrete accomplishments rather than a demand.
Then practice patience. Reference the range, state your target zone, and stop talking. Let them respond with an offer. If it comes in low, you can point to the top of their own posted range as the ceiling they themselves defined, which is a much stronger anchor than anything you could invent.
One more piece of leverage worth knowing: the law has teeth. Under the SB 215 statutory text, an aggrieved applicant or employee may recover statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000, or actual damages if greater, plus reasonable attorney fees. Separately, when the Attorney General enforces the posting requirement, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP notes a first violation carries civil penalties of up to $1,000 and subsequent violations up to $5,000. You are not likely to need any of this, but knowing the consequences exist should give you the confidence to hold your ground.