republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-170.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Protection of employees; covenants not to compete, discharged employees."
description: "Protection of employees; covenants not to compete; discharged employees. Provides that no covenant not to compete, as such term is defined in existing law, between an employer and an employee is enforceable if such employer discharges such employee from employment without providing severance benefits or other monetary payment to such employee that is disclosed upon execution of the covenant not to compete, unless the employee is discharged for cause. This bill incorporates SB 569."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 170"
citation: "Virginia SB 170 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeremy S. McPike"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 36
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2026-01-08"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0d6071b0-db85-4505-8e7a-78880102e5bb"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB170"
source_hash: "b6f78ec7c2b70f8ece86e39ffccd36049172a78de04cc630ddd13fdbeb3a3ac8"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 170 (2026) — Protection of employees; covenants not to compete, discharged employees.

Protection of employees; covenants not to compete; discharged employees. Provides that no covenant not to compete, as such term is defined in existing law, between an employer and an employee is enforceable if such employer discharges such employee from employment without providing severance benefits or other monetary payment to such employee that is disclosed upon execution of the covenant not to compete, unless the employee is discharged for cause. This bill incorporates SB 569.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083630.PDF)
2. **Commerce and Labor Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1107920.HTML)
3. **Commerce and Labor Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1115106.PDF)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1198795.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Appropriations — **18–4** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Labor and Commerce — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **87–12** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **7–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jeremy S. McPike — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100309D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-08** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB170)
- **2026-02-02** Incorporates SB569 (Sturtevant)
- **2026-02-02** Senate committee offered
- **2026-02-02** Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-03** Committee substitute printed 26107018D-S1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-03** Substitute bill reprinted 26107018D
- **2026-02-04** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-04** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-05** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-05** Commerce and Labor Substitute agreed to
- **2026-02-05** Engrossed by Senate Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-05** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute Block Vote (Voice Vote) `substitution`
- **2026-02-06** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-10** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB170)
- **2026-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-12** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-17** Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
- **2026-02-24** Reported from Labor and Commerce and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-25** Assigned HAPP sub: Commerce Agriculture & Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-27** Reported from Appropriations (18-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-04** Passed House (87-Y 12-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-10** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB170ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB170)
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 883 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0d6071b0-db85-4505-8e7a-78880102e5bb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).