Virginia employment law is a complex topic, and there’s a lot of misinformation floating around on the internet and on various social media sites.
At Quinn Law Centers, we’ve helped countless Virginia employees with employment issues over the years, and we’d like to clear up several common misconceptions about VA workplace law.
This guide will provide you with a better understanding of your rights as an employee in the State of Virginia.
At-Will Employment
As an employee in the State of Virginia, you don’t have many rights. Unless you have a contract that specifically states you can only be terminated for cause or are part of a union, you are otherwise usually considered an at-will employee.
Generally speaking, as an at-will employee, your employer can legally terminate your employment at any time, for almost any reason, or for no reason. An employer just cannot terminate you for an illegal reason as further discussed below.Conversely, you can also quit your job whenever you like, for whatever reasons you want, or for no reason.
The “Right to Work” is another common misconception. From a legal standpoint, “Right to Work” basically applies to unions being able to form, solicit, and bring people together.
While you, as an employee, do have a right to work, it solely depends upon your qualifications and whether or not an employer decides to hire you.
Wrongful Termination
While you are an employee-at-will, your employer cannot terminate you for an illegal reason.
For example, suppose a new employer takes over a company and decides to fire everyone over the age of 40. In that case, such terminations could violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act unless the new owners have a valid business reason for doing so.
A company that’s going under because employees are making too much money could be construed as a valid reason to fire that specific part of the workforce. In such a case, the fact that everyone who was fired was over the age of 40 might not constitute wrongful termination.
Employers can also wrongfully terminate an employee based on a legal concept called “retaliation.”
For example, If an employee makes a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and claims they have been discriminated against—and their employer subsequently immediately fires them—the worker might have a retaliation claim.
Whistle-blowers also may be afforded protection under Virginia’s employment laws.
For example, suppose the employee reports to the IRS that their employer engaged in tax fraud or reports to OSHA that the employer is knowingly committing safety violations, and then their employer fires them. In that case, they may have claims under the whistle-blower laws.
Basically, if you feel that you’ve been wrongfully terminated, you would have to prove it violated a Federal Law or fell under a limited remedy under Virginia law or was due to being a lawful whistle-blower.
Protected Clauses
What many people don’t understand is that federal and state employment laws only apply to employers who have a certain minimum number of employees. Some of the more applicable acts require the following numbers of employees:
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act—The employer must have at least 20 or more employees to qualify.
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act—15 or more employees.
- Americans with Disabilities Act – 15 or more employees.
- Family and Medical Leave Act – 50 or more employees.
- Virginia Human Rights Act —5 to 14 employees.
- Virginians with Disabilities Act—Less than 15 employees. Note though that the Virginia Human Rights Act now also covers disability.
With the recent passage of the Virginia Values Act and amendments to the Virginia Human Rights Act, employees working for smaller employers now have more expanded rights. However, overall keep in mind that if you work for a much smaller employer, you may not have the same level of protection as you would with a bigger one.
Harassment and Hostile Work Environments
Discrimination often is focused on discrimination in hiring, firing and/or in the provision of benefits. An example of this could be when a woman is clearly not being paid similar wages as her male counterparts who are performing a similar job. However, another type of discrimination is harassment and it typically falls into two categories:
- Hostile work environment harassment —A hostile work environment is one where the hostility is directed at a protected class of an individual over which they have little control, such as age, sex, orientation, ethnicity, religion, disability, race, national origin, etc.
- Quid pro quo harassment — This type of harassment is like “tit” for “tat such as in ”I will promote you, but only if you have sex with me.”
There are a few conditions that need to occur when it comes to a hostile work environment.
For example, if someone is sexually harassed, it has to be severe and pervasive. The employee must also ask for the cessation of comments/actions to stop for the sexual harassment laws to apply.
Learn More About Your Rights as a Virginia Employee
We hope this article has given you some insights into the common misconceptions of the State of Virginia’s complex labor laws.
If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone if you feel that your rights have been violated, please request a consultation by clicking below.