Labor & Employment

On July 15, 2020, Virginia adopted § 16 VAC 25-220, Emergency Temporary Standard, and Infectious Disease Prevention: SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19. The Emergency Temporary Standard, which was drafted under the direction of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and approved by the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board, requires Virginia employers to: Mandate social distancing...

On March 27, 2020, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) issued a class deviation in response to Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), which allows agencies to reimburse, at the minimum applicable contract billing rates for government contractors to be at a ‘ready state.’ Recently, DoD issued a...

Less than a year after Maryland limited competitive restraints employers may place on low-wage employees, Virginia passed a law prohibiting non-compete clauses for low-wage employees. On April 9, 2020, Virginia Governor, Ralph Northam, signed SB 480 into law, which will go into effect on July 1, 2020. The new law states that on and...

Ward & Berry PLLC co-founder Daniel Ward discusses recent changes in Virginia prohibiting covenants not to compete with "low-wage employees," effective July 1, 2020. Virginia's definition of "low wage employee" may surprise you.    

"Cutting compliance will only make things much worse." Ward & Berry PLLC co-founder Ryan Berry with an important compliance PSA for federal contractors. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont-Cut-Compliance.mp4"][/video]

Attention federal contractors with operations in Virginia! There has been a sea change in Virginia employment law that greatly increases your exposure to lawsuits in Virginia state courts. Read on… Virginia has long been extremely protective of the at-will employment doctrine and (apart from narrow public policy exceptions) barred direct lawsuits by employees alleging...