Pay Frequency and Wage-Payment Lag Requirements in Virginia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Frequency turns on salary versus hourly pay

Va. Code § 40.1-29(B) requires salaried employees to be paid at least once each month. Employees paid on an hourly rate must be paid at least once every two weeks or twice in each month. Biweekly and twice-monthly are separate lawful choices: one follows a 14-day rhythm, while the other supplies two paydays per calendar month.

The employer must establish regular pay periods and rates of pay, except for executive personnel. Section 40.1-29(B) does not add a fixed number of days between the period close and payday, so Virginia's general rule is frequency- based rather than a separate lag formula.

Two hourly groups may be paid monthly

A student currently enrolled in a work-study program or equivalent administered by a secondary school, higher-education institution, or trade school may be paid monthly if the institution chooses.

An employee whose weekly wages exceed 150% of the Commonwealth's average weekly wage may also be paid monthly, but each affected employee must agree. The threshold changes with the average-weekly-wage measure in § 65.2-500, so it should not be replaced with a permanent dollar figure.

Current remedies include a new good-faith cure

Under § 40.1-29(H), ordinary nonpayment liability includes the wages due, an equal amount as liquidated damages, and 8% annual interest from the due date. A private action also carries reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. Knowing nonpayment requires an award equal to triple the wages due. Va. Code § 40.1-29(M) supplies a three-year limitations period, subject to the administrative-filing tolling rule. For an action begun on or after July 1, 2026, current subsection P prevents additional damages or penalties when the employer proves good faith and reasonable grounds and cures within 14 days after notice by paying all wages unlawfully withheld. That new defense does not erase the underlying wages.

What trips people up

Virginia does not impose the same frequency on all employees. Monthly is the general salary schedule; ordinary hourly employees require biweekly or twice- monthly pay.

The high-wage monthly option is not automatic. The weekly wages must exceed 150% of the statutory average-weekly-wage measure, and each affected employee must agree.

The employee-handbook shorthand "weekly/biweekly/semimonthly" is incomplete if it suggests monthly payroll is never allowed. Monthly is the express statutory rule for salaried employees.

Common questions

Can a Virginia salaried employee be paid monthly?

Yes. Section 40.1-29(B) requires salaried employees to be paid at least once each month.

Can an ordinary hourly employee be paid monthly?

Generally no. Hourly employees must be paid at least every two weeks or twice monthly unless one of the two express monthly exceptions applies.

Does Virginia impose a fixed payroll lag?

Section 40.1-29(B) requires established regular periods and the specified frequencies but states no separate maximum number of days after period close.

Statutes and sources

• Va. Code § 40.1-29(A)-(B). Definitions, regular periods, salary/hourly frequencies, and monthly exceptions. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• Va. Code § 40.1-29(G)-(P). Administrative and private enforcement, damages, penalties, limitations, and the July 2026 good-faith cure. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).