Labor and Commerce subcommittees report wide range of labor, energy and workforce bills; most advance out of committee

The Virginia House Labor and Commerce Committee on Tuesday heard subcommittee reports that recommended advancing roughly 17 bills on topics including workplace-violence policies, paid sick and family leave, heat-illness prevention, prevailing-wage and apprenticeship rules for renewable-energy work, protections for children appearing in online content, utility authority for electric-vehicle charging, and changes to integrated resource planning for utilities.

The subcommittee reports combined a series of short presentations of bill language and votes. Subcommittee 2, chaired by Delegate Lopez, moved a cluster of employment and labor bills to the full committee, while Subcommittee 3, chaired by Chair Sullivan, advanced several energy and workforce measures. Most measures were reported by margins ranging from narrow to substantial and several were referred to the Appropriations Committee for funding review.

Why it matters: The bills reported would change employer obligations and worker protections across the Commonwealth (including civil penalties, recordkeeping, and overtime and benefit rules), and would change how utilities plan and deploy resources for transportation electrification and renewable generation. Because many measures require regulatory work by state agencies, referral to Appropriations signals potential budget or staffing implications.

Key outcomes and highlights

- Workplace violence policy (HB 19): The subcommittee recommended reporting. The committee vote reported the bill 11–7. The bill, as described in the subcommittee report, would require employers with 100 or more employees to adopt a workplace-violence policy by Jan. 1, 2026; maintain incident documentation for at least five years; bar retaliation for reporting; and allow an employee reporting immunity from civil liability. The subcommittee description said the civil penalty would be not more than $1,000 per violation.

- Paid sick leave expansion (transcribed as “HB 19 21”): The committee reported and referred the measure to Appropriations by a vote of 12–9. According to the subcommittee report, the bill would expand a current requirement for home health workers to all private and public employees, provide paid leave for certain needs related to domestic abuse or stalking, require employer recordkeeping, and authorize civil enforcement and penalties; the bill’s delayed effective date was reported as Jan. 1, 2026.

- Heat-illness prevention (HB 1980): Reported as amended 12–9. The bill would direct the state health codes board, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, to adopt regulations and identify high-hazard industries by Jan. 1, 2026, and to…