Virginia just changed the rules on hiring. Most employers don't know it yet.

Virginia just changed the rules on hiring. Most employers don't know it yet.

On July 1, Virginia's new pay transparency law (SB 215) took effect.
No small-business exemption. No non-profit carve-out. Every employer in the Commonwealth is covered.

Here's what changed:

1. Every job posting needs a real pay range.
Not a placeholder. Not $50K–$500K. It has to be grounded in something — your pay scale, past pay for the role, comparable employees, or your budget.

2. Salary history questions are off the table.
You can't ask candidates what they make. You can't ask their current or former employer either. If a candidate volunteers it after an offer, you can use it to go up — never to go down.

3. The penalties bite.

Up to $5,000 per violation from the AG. Candidates can sue directly within a year. Postings get a 15-day cure window. Salary history violations don't — you can't unask a question.

What to do now:
→ Audit every open req, external and internal
→ Strip salary history questions from applications and interview guides--talk to everyone in your interview process about the questions they can and can't ask.
→ Document how you're setting ranges
→ Brief your hiring managers — most violations happen in a casual conversation, not on paper

Big Fish doesn't give legal advice — talk to counsel on compliance.

Where we do help: the market side. Once a range is posted, candidates anchor to the top of it — especially junior candidates, who often don't have context for what their experience level actually commands.

We help employers benchmark realistic ranges before they post, and then level-set candidates before they hit the offer stage.

If you want to pressure-test a range against the market, or just talk through how this changes a search — reach out.