HB 944 Virginia House of Delegates · 2027 Regular Session

Workplace violence; policy required for certain employers, civil penalty, delayed effective date.

Summary
Workplace violence policy required for certain employers; civil penalty. Requires any employer of 100 or more employees to develop, implement, and maintain a workplace violence policy no later than January 1, 2027. The bill includes requirements for such a policy, such as procedures and methods for employee reporting of incidents and post-incident investigations. Employers subject to the bill are required to maintain documentation of workplace violence incidents for not less than five years. An employer that violates the provisions of the bill shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 per violation. The bill prohibits retaliation from an employer on the basis of reporting a workplace violence incident and provides that any employee who makes a report of workplace violence shall be immune from civil liability. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Jul 21, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House of Delegates by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
21
Key actions
5
Committee
7
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 4-N)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (62-Y 35-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (13-Y 7-N)
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #2
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce
lower
1 primary · 6 co-sponsors

Sponsors