State file — Virginia
Severance itself is almost never required by law — but the paper around your exit is. In Virginia, three state rules shape your negotiation: when your last paycheck must arrive, whether a non-compete can follow you to your next job, and what notice a layoff required. If you are 40 or older, the federal clocks (21 or 45 days, plus 7 days to change your mind after signing) apply on top of everything here.
Federal rule only — no state severance/settlement consideration or revocation statute found beyond the federal OWBPA/ADEA (21 days individual / 45 days group, 7 days to revoke, age 40+).
Run the deadline checker — it counts the federal clock and Virginia's clock together and gives you the dates.
Void / barred for 'low-wage employees': no employer may enter into, enforce or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete with a low-wage employee. Low-wage = average weekly earnings below the Commonwealth's average weekly wage — $1,507.01/week (≈$78,364.52/year) for 2026 (2025: $1,463.10 / ≈$76,081) — PLUS, effective July 1, 2025 (SB 1218), every employee entitled to FLSA overtime (i.e. non-exempt) regardless of earnings. The 2025 expansion is not retroactive. Interns/students/apprentices/trainees and independent contractors below the median hourly wage are also covered by the definition. For workers outside the ban, noncompetes remain enforceable only under Virginia's strict common-law reasonableness test (legitimate business interest, not unduly harsh, not against public policy; Virginia courts do not blue-pencil). $10,000 civil penalty per violation plus a private right of action.
Why it matters at the exit table: a non-compete you sign on the way out can matter more than the severance check. If the clause would block your next job, narrowing it is one of the most common — and most granted — negotiation asks.
Terminated or resigned (no distinction): pay all wages or salaries earned on or before the next regular payday following termination, through regular pay channels or by mail if the employee requests it.
Unused vacation: Virginia has no PTO/vacation payout statute — payout follows the employer's policy; Virginia law does not ban use-it-or-lose-it policies that were communicated to the employee.
Final pay is owed whether or not you sign anything. If the date passes without your money, your state labor agency takes these complaints — and many states add penalties for every day of delay.
Virginia has no state layoff-notice law of its own, so the federal WARN Act is the rule: employers with 100+ workers generally owe 60 days' notice of a plant closing or mass layoff (50+ jobs at one site).
Notice failures have their own remedies (back pay for each day of missed notice, in the federal law's case) — separate from the severance agreement, and worth a question if your layoff was large and sudden.
Included in the $49 SeveranceDecoded Kit
One payment. Yours to keep. Works for any severance agreement, any state.
Back to severance laws by state · the deadline checker