Will 2026 finally be the year paid leave becomes a reality for all Virginians?

Democrats and pro-worker advocates hope this can be the year Virginia expands access to paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave to hundreds of thousands of workers.

After years of effort, Virginia Democrats and pro-worker advocates hope this is the year they finally pass  two paid leave bills to strengthen the social safety net for workers. 

Both bills would make paid leave available to more Virginia workers, but in different ways. 

Senate Bill 2 would address the need for weeks of paid time off for major life events like cancer treatments, the birth of a child, or end of life care for a loved one. House Bill 5 aims to give Virginia workers paid sick leave on a day-to-day basis to deal with shorter term needs. 

The push to expand paid leave is years in the making, especially in the wake of the pandemic as public health and the needs of frontline workers became more of a priority. But outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has previously vetoed versions of these bills based on the idea they would be bad for business. 

The bills’ supporters argue short-term and long-term paid leave benefits are actually good for business because they help them retain workers and are good for morale, not to mention that putting money in people’s pockets lets them buy the goods and services that fuel the economy. 

Supporters also make a moral argument, saying workers should not have to choose between taking care of their health or managing a life-changing crisis and keeping their jobs—especially at a time when health care is getting more expensive and harder to access. 

“Paid family and medical leave is truly going to be more important than ever for folks to be able to not have to choose between that paycheck and getting the health care that they need,” said Emily Moore, a senior policy analyst at Voices for Virginia’s Children.

The election of Democrat Abigail Spanberger as Virginia’s next governor and Democrats’ growing majority in the General Assembly have renewed hopes that these bills will finally become law. 

“We hope that with the new governor and with the new members of the General Assembly, we can finally get this done, because workers have been waiting for too long,” said Ramón Zepeda Ramos, an economic justice organizer at the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.

Paid family and medical leave

Senate Bill 2 would create a social insurance program within the Virginia Employment Commission. Both employees and employers would pay into a fund that would pay qualified workers 80% of their weekly wages for up to 12 weeks of leave. The contributions would vary year to year, be based on workers’ pay, and  amount to about a few dollars a week. 

Workers could access the fund for major life events like bonding with a newborn, adoption of a child, and providing care for a loved one who is seriously ill. The proposed legislation also includes a provision to allow for survivors of domestic sexual violence and stalking to access the fund. 

About 73% of Virginia workers, or about 3.5 million people, do not have paid family leave through their jobs, according to a fact sheet published last February by the National Partnership of Women & Families. The group estimated that every year, Virginians lose $1.4 billion in wages due to unpaid or partially paid leave. 

Federal law allows workers to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave, but that’s often not an option for many who live paycheck to paycheck. Giving workers 80% of their wages during that time, will give them peace of mind, said Emily Moore, a senior policy analyst at Voices for Virginia’s Children. 

“This will make sure that you’re getting at least 80% of your wages, so that you don’t have to choose between that paycheck, and caring for yourself or caring for a loved one,” Moore said in an interview. 

State Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-Herndon) is carrying the bill in the Senate, and state Del. Briana Sewell (D-Woodbridge) is expected to introduce a similar bill in the House. 

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have similar programs, and it’s time for Virginia to join them, Boysko said in an interview. 

“We have parents who are dying, we sometimes have very serious illnesses or get into car wrecks, or have loved ones who are deploying to war or coming home and who need support,” Boysko said. “This is a manageable way for businesses and individuals to plan ahead.”

Paid sick leave

House Bill 5 would let all workers earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with the paid sick leave workers can earn capped at 40 hours per year. 

Currently, Virginia law only requires that home health care workers earn paid sick leave, and that only came about during the height of the pandemic, Zepeda Ramos said. 

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have laws that require paid sick leave, according to the nonprofit A Better Balance. About 41% of private sector workers, or 1.2 million workers, in Virginia have no paid sick leave, according to the Virginia Interfaith Center. 

“We know that that creates a crisis, especially for low wage workers, who must choose between taking time to take care of themselves when they’re sick, or maybe take care of their children or a family member or choosing to make a living,” Zepeda Ramos said. 

While sometimes the two bills get confused, they address different needs even as they are, as Zepeda Ramos put it, “two sides of the same coin.” 

“When workers get sick, whether it’s a few hours or days or whether it’s weeks or months, we believe that we can all do better when everybody has the tools they need to be economically secure and have their hard work respected,” Zepeda Ramos said. 

Correction: A previous version of this story included old data from 2020 about the number of states with paid sick leave laws. The story has been updated with a more recent figure.