A new state law regarding overtime is causing confusion and concern for local governments across Virginia.—
The Virginia Overtime Wage Act went into effect July 1, and it was presented as a change allowing workers to pursue overtime claims against their employers in state court instead of federal court.
But in June local governments began to realize some issues with the changes, including that compensatory time, or “comp time,” was no longer included as an option to provide employees as compensation for overtime work instead of wages.
In a frequently asked questions page on its website, the state Department of Labor and Industry posted its interpretation of the law, stating that employers cannot provide comp time instead of pay.
“Overtime wages must be paid in legal tender of the United States or checks or drafts on banks negotiable into cash on demand or upon acceptance at full value,” the department page says.
The Virginia Association of Counties surveyed its membership and found that if the DOLI interpretation were applied to those localities, there would be “a multimillion-dollar unbudgeted fiscal impact to county governments during Fiscal Year 2022,” Jeremy R. Bennett, director of intergovernmental affairs for VACo, said in an email.
“This could also impact the scheduling and wages of thousands of local government employees and impact the ability of local governments to deliver vital services and provide flexibility to their employees,” he said. “We have been in contact with the patron of the legislation to confirm that this was not the intent of the legislation, and have requested that the patron and the administration seek to rectify this unintended consequence during the upcoming special session.”