Labor & Employment in West Virginia

in committee · West Virginia · House of Delegates Feb 2, 2026

HB 5045: Changing the recommended guidelines for full-day and half-day cooks to the minimum ratio of one cook for every 110 meals

HB 5045 changes West Virginia school meal staffing rules to require one cook for every 110 meals prepared and served, effective for the 2027-2028 school year. This replaces the current tiered system, which set varying cook-to-meal ratios based on meal volume (e.g., 1 cook for 1-90 meals). County school boards must now use this fixed minimum ratio when scheduling cooks for school lunch programs. The bill directly affects all public school food service staff in West Virginia.

Topics ✗ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Labor Standards

in committee · West Virginia · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

HB 5664: To create the West Virginia Cares Fund

HB 5664 proposes creating the West Virginia Cares Fund, a state-run long-term care insurance program funded through payroll deductions for eligible state employees. It would provide a daily benefit of $100 for 365 days annually to cover approved services like in-home care, community-based support, and skilled nursing facility care. The bill aims to address the lack of affordable long-term care insurance, which leaves over 90% of seniors uninsured, by offering coverage through employee payroll premiums instead of out-of-pocket costs. This would allow beneficiaries to choose care settings (home, community, or facility) while maintaining current service options and seamless transitions from existing funding sources. The bill is currently in committee referral after its February 2026 introduction.

Topics ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Long-Term Care

in committee · West Virginia · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2026

HB 5154: Relating to statute of limitations for discrimination

HB 5154 extends the statute of limitations for filing discrimination complaints under West Virginia law from one year to three years. It also raises the minimum employee threshold for a business to be considered an "employer" under the law from two to twelve employees. This change affects individuals who experience discrimination by giving them more time to seek redress and exempts small businesses with fewer than twelve employees from the law's coverage. The bill does not alter the types of discrimination prohibited but modifies the timeframe and scope of the Human Rights Commission's jurisdiction.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · West Virginia · House of Delegates Feb 6, 2026

HB 5070: To permit and require real estate brokerage firms to pay realtors leaving the commission they are entitled on open contracts.

HB 5070 requires real estate brokerage firms in West Virginia to pay realtors their earned commissions on open contracts when those realtors leave the firm to join another brokerage. Specifically, it amends the real estate license law to mandate that brokers must remit to the departing agent any compensation due from contracts signed while the agent was affiliated with that brokerage, upon receipt of the commission. This directly affects real estate agents who transition between brokerages and ensures they receive payment for work completed under prior contracts. The bill does not alter other licensing requirements or commission-sharing rules but focuses solely on ensuring fair payment for existing contracts during agent transitions.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · West Virginia · House of Delegates Feb 4, 2026

HB 5178: To provide asset preservation for minors who earn income from artistic or creative services for us of their name, image, or likeness

HB 5178 requires employers to deposit 15% of a minor’s gross earnings from artistic/creative work (like acting, music, or content creation) or name/image/likeness (NIL) use into a blocked trust account. It directly affects minors under 18 who earn income through these activities, including social media content creators and student-athletes. The funds remain inaccessible until the minor turns 18, with employers mandated to provide monthly records to parents/guardians and open the account within 7 business days of qualifying activity. The bill also specifies that independent content creators are excluded from these requirements.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Child Labor

in committee · West Virginia · Senate Feb 9, 2026

SB 885: Allowing Tier II teachers to bank unused sick time toward retirement

SB 885 allows teachers who joined West Virginia's Teachers Retirement System on or after July 1, 2015 (Tier II members) to convert unused sick and annual leave into retirement benefits. Specifically, it permits them to count two days of accrued sick/annual leave as one day of additional retirement service credit. This change directly affects eligible Tier II teachers by increasing their retirement benefits based on unused leave balances. The bill amends existing retirement system rules to implement this conversion at a 2:1 ratio, providing a concrete policy change for affected educators.

Topics ✓ Education ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Retirement Benefits

in committee · West Virginia · House of Delegates Feb 10, 2026

HB 5428: Relating to providing traumatic event counseling for peace officers.

HB 5428 requires employers of peace officers, firefighters, and 911 dispatchers to provide up to 12 sessions of licensed counseling (via telehealth if desired) for employees exposed to specific traumatic events in the line of duty, such as witnessing death, using deadly force, or responding to child-related incidents. Employers must cover up to 24 additional counseling sessions within one year if a mental health professional deems them necessary for recovery. The bill also prohibits requiring employees to use accrued leave for counseling appointments and ensures no loss of pay or benefits for up to 30 days if deemed unfit for duty during treatment, subject to specific conditions. It allows employees to select their own licensed mental health professional and clarifies that payment does not create a presumption of compensable claims.

Topics ✓ Criminal Justice ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Healthcare Workforce Mental Health Substance Abuse Tags Public Safety

introduced · West Virginia · Senate Feb 12, 2026

SB 930: Raising cost of living increase for certain municipal employees

SB 930 amends West Virginia law to increase the amount of pension benefits subject to annual cost-of-living adjustments for municipal police, firefighters, and employees of waterworks, sewage, and combined water/sewage systems. The bill raises the threshold for calculating these adjustments from $15,000 to $45,000 of an annual pension benefit, meaning a larger portion of their retirement income will now be tied to inflation. This change applies to existing retirees and future beneficiaries under the pension system, without altering the 4% annual cap on adjustments or the two-year waiting period for new retirees. The policy directly affects these municipal workers by potentially increasing their annual pension increases based on inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Retirement Benefits

introduced · West Virginia · Senate Feb 19, 2026

SB 1001: Establishing WV Nuclear Lifecycle and Advanced Fuel Cycle Development Act

SB 1001 establishes West Virginia's Nuclear Lifecycle and Advanced Fuel Cycle Development Act, authorizing state-level support for federally licensed nuclear fuel activities like enrichment, recycling, storage, and transportation. The bill creates a Nuclear Lifecycle Development Fund to support infrastructure, workforce training, and matching federal grants for a "Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus." It explicitly states that state agencies cannot block federally authorized nuclear operations and requires all activities to comply with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules. The legislation directly affects nuclear energy developers, federal partners like the Department of Energy, and communities hosting potential facilities.

Topics ✓ Energy ✓ Environment ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Nuclear Recycling Workforce Development

in committee · West Virginia · House of Delegates Feb 5, 2026

HB 5264: Establishing workers cooperative corporations

HB 5264 establishes a legal framework for "workers cooperative corporations" in West Virginia, allowing businesses to be organized with employees as owners. The bill defines key terms like "capital account cooperative" (where assets are tracked per member) and "collective board cooperative" (where all worker-members serve on the board), and requires corporations to state in their founding documents that they are worker cooperatives. It sets rules including limiting individual investment to $5,000 per member, requiring profit distribution based on member contributions (like hours worked or wages), and mandating that dissolved cooperatives distribute assets based on patronage or capital contributions. This directly affects businesses seeking to transition to employee ownership, providing a clear path for their formation and operation under state law.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

All labor & employment bills