republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-894.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Misclassification of workers; cause of action.	Misclassification of workers; cause of action. Authorizes an individual who has not been properly classified as an employee to bring a civil action for damages against his employer for failing to properly classify the employee if the employer had knowledge of the individual's misclassification. The court may award damages in the amount of any wages, salary, employment benefits, including expenses incurred by the employee that would otherwise have been covered by insurance, or other compensation lost to the individual, a reasonable attorney fee, and the costs incurred by the employee in bringing the action. The measure provides that an individual who performs services for a person for remuneration shall be presumed to be an employee unless it is shown that the individual is an independent contractor as determined under the Internal Revenue Service guidelines. This bill is identical to HB 984.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2020	SB 894	Virginia SB 894 (2020)	bill		enacted	Richard L. Saslaw	3	23	6	2020-01-08	2020-03-18	openstates	ocd-bill/1efbf0c8-afa6-40a4-b770-94daa501930b	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB894	b84e62daca249782ebb9529232e85de9da25db1f187f9aa370ba5e4d543791ce	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 894 (2020) — Misclassification of workers; cause of action.

Misclassification of workers; cause of action. Authorizes an individual who has not been properly classified as an employee to bring a civil action for damages against his employer for failing to properly classify the employee if the employer had knowledge of the individual's misclassification. The court may award damages in the amount of any wages, salary, employment benefits, including expenses incurred by the employee that would otherwise have been covered by insurance, or other compensation lost to the individual, a reasonable attorney fee, and the costs incurred by the employee in bringing the action. The measure provides that an individual who performs services for a person for remuneration shall be presumed to be an employee unless it is shown that the individual is an independent contractor as determined under the Internal Revenue Service guidelines. This bill is identical to HB 984. 

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0381) (committee substitute) — source
2. Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB894ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Impact statement from DPB (SB894) (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 3-N) — 12–3 (pass) · upper
• Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Labor and Commerce (19-Y 3-N) — 19–3 (pass) · lower
• VOTE: Passage (64-Y 35-N) — 63–35 (pass) · lower
• Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N) — 21–19 (pass) · upper
• Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Richard L. Saslaw — primary (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2020-01-08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20105117D introduction
• 2020-01-08 Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor referral-committee
• 2020-02-04 Impact statement from DPB (SB894)
• 2020-02-09 Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 3-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-10 Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-11 Read second time and engrossed reading-2
• 2020-02-11 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-11 Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N) passage
• 2020-02-18 Placed on Calendar
• 2020-02-18 Read first time reading-1
• 2020-02-18 Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce referral-committee
• 2020-02-25 Reported from Labor and Commerce (19-Y 3-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-27 Read second time reading-2
• 2020-02-28 Read third time reading-3
• 2020-02-28 Passed House (64-Y 35-N) passage
• 2020-02-28 VOTE: Passage (64-Y 35-N)
• 2020-03-05 Enrolled
• 2020-03-05 Impact statement from DPB (SB894ER)
• 2020-03-06 Signed by Speaker
• 2020-03-07 Signed by President
• 2020-03-12 Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
• 2020-03-12 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
• 2020-03-18 Approved by Governor-Chapter 381 (effective 7/1/20) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/1efbf0c8-afa6-40a4-b770-94daa501930b. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).