The Virginia Secretary of Labor is responsible for overseeing four state agencies that implement the Commonwealth’s labor and employment and occupational licensing laws and provide workforce development services and unemployment insurance benefits. Combined, these agencies serve 4.3 million workers and support 300,000 employers across the Commonwealth. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) is charged with promoting safe workplaces and with enforcing wage protection laws. DOLI is agency responsible for implementing, administering, and enforcing many of Virginia’s newest worker protection laws.

In 2026, Virginia’s General Assembly passed, and Governor Spanberger signed, more than a dozen laws that significantly expanded worker protections in Virginia. Several of these laws gave additional administrative and enforcement authority to DOLI, including increased responsibilities for protecting workers from wage theft by enforcing laws addressing payment of wages, minimum wage and overtime, worker misclassification, prevailing wage, and other workplace protections. New laws also gave DOLI enforcement authority for the new state Paid Sick Leave law and for employment protections under the new Paid Family and Medical Leave law. Together, these laws help ensure working Virginians can rely on receiving the wages they’ve earned and can take paid time off for medical and family reasons without fear of losing their jobs. They also provide clear standards for employers across the Commonwealth and promote a level playing field for businesses that comply with the law.

The 2026 Appropriation Act appropriated $6.5 million in Fiscal Year 2027 and $3.635 million in Fiscal Year 2028 to DOLI from the general fund for labor law enforcement activities and to develop a comprehensive case management system. (2026 Special Session I, Chapter 1, Item 352) With these funds, DOLI is in the process of hiring and training twenty additional investigators who will be responsible for recovering wages that were earned but not paid to workers. This new staff will join the four current investigators to engage in outreach, education, and strategic enforcement of new and existing wage protection laws. This report outlines DOLI’s plan for implementing the organizational changes needed to transform the agency’s current labor law program and stand up its Wage Protection Division over the next three years.

The Secretary of Labor and DOLI’s implementation goals for the new Wage Protection Division are focused on creating sustainable operational capacity, providing necessary technical and compliance assistance to employers, and ensuring that workers receive the protections they are entitled to under the law.