3 interesting bills: overtime for domestic workers, heat regulations, new rules for sex offenders

By Meghan McIntyre, Virginia Mercury

More than 1,000 bills are filed for General Assembly consideration each year. In this weekly series, the Mercury takes a look at a few of lawmakers’ 2025 proposals that might not otherwise make headlines during the whirlwind legislative session.

House Bill 2469 and Senate Bill 897: Overtime pay for domestic workers

Domestic workers like caregivers or nannies who work more than 40 hours a week would be entitled to receive overtime pay from their employers under identical bills from Del. Rozia Henson, D-Woodbridge, and Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William.

Carroll Foy told the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor last month that the state law requiring employers pay employees the federal minimum of 1.5 times their regular rate for working overtime doesn’t apply to the nearly 60,000 domestic workers in Virginia. In addition,  domestic service workers who live in their employer’s home are explicitly exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act overtime pay requirement. 

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the vast majority of domestic workers in the U.S. are older women, 50% of whom are Black, Hispanic or Asian American, and are three times as likely to live in poverty as other workers.

The lack of wage protections leave many workers to “tolerate low or no pay and abusive situations,” Carroll Foy said.

The bills would also allow domestic workers who experience overtime wage theft to take legal action against their employer, and would take effect July 1, 2026.

Nearly a dozen individuals expressed their support for the legislation last month in House and Senate committees, including Del. Alphonso Lopez, D-Arlington, who told a House Labor and Commerce subcommittee he has,”numerous family members who would greatly appreciate this bill.”

What could be considered paid work drew concern from some senators, with Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, asking if a live-in nanny would get overtime pay if they were listening to a baby monitor past their eight-hour workday.

Jewel Gatling with Care in Action, a nonprofit domestic worker advocacy group, told lawmakers that what domestic workers get paid for and their schedule is determined in a contract with their employer, reiterating that getting overtime pay isn’t even an option right now. 

Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed similar legislation last year because it lacked definitions for “domestic worker” and “domestic services.” Henson told the House Appropriations Committee last month those definitions, along with an amendment excluding employees who provide consumer-directed services through Virginia Medicaid, are now in both bills.

However, David Johnson, Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Labor and Industry told the Senate panel Youngkin’s administration “strongly” opposes the legislation. He did not say why.

The bills passed their respective chambers on a party-line vote, with Republicans in opposition, and will head to Youngkin’s desk if Henson’s legislation clears the Senate.

House Bill 1980: Heat protection standards

The commonwealth would be required to identify industries with the largest incidences of heat-related preventable illness by Jan. 1, 2026 and update the list every five years under a bill from Del. Phil Hernandez, D-Norfolk.

The bill also establishes new state regulations to prevent heat illness, including providing water to employees and access to shade or a climate-controlled environment and rest periods, and establishing effective emergency response procedures. The new rules would be effective May 1, 2026.

Employees could receive $1,000 in statutory damages from their employer for incidents where these heat-protection standards are violated. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Virginia had 36 work-related deaths due to environmental heat exposure in 2021. Nationwide, general heat-related deaths hit a record high of 2,325 in 2023, according to a study published in the American Medical Association. 

Individuals representing construction, farming, food and commercial workers spoke in favor of the bill, with Doris Mays, president of Virginia AFL-CIO, telling the panel, “our policy is when workers go to work, they are expected to come back home to their family.” 

In opposition, Rachel Henley with the Virginia Farm Bureau said her group yields to federal OSHA requirements, which is set to discuss its new proposed rule on workplace heat prevention in June. Dylan Bishop, legislative director for the Heavy Construction Contractors Association said, “oftentimes if you’re working on a 20 mile stretch of highway on 460, some of these provisions just would be unworkable.”

The bill passed the full House, and Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, with Republicans in opposition. It now heads to the full Senate.

Senate Bill 1108: Prohibiting sex offenders in state park areas

This bill from Sen. Danny Diggs, R-York, would prohibit sex offenders convicted on or after July 1 from being within 100 feet of playgrounds, athletic fields or facilities or gymnasiums located on the premises of a state park. Under current law, these rules only apply for local parks. 

A violation would be a Class 6 felony, which can carry a fine of not more than $2,500, a prison sentence no less than one year nor more than five years or jail sentence of no more than 12 months if a court or jury determines so, or both. 

Diggs told the Senate Courts of Justice Committee last month his bill is a “paired down” version of legislation he introduced last year, which prohibited convicted sex offenders from being within 100 feet of state parks in general. 

Committee Chair Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said the concern last year was, “that somebody might run into somebody on a hiking trail not realizing there might be children there or might end up in the woods.”

Diggs said his bill would still allow registered sex offenders to use paths or scenic overlooks where children aren’t typically present. 

Surovell noted he would reach out to state police to make sure the pamphlet given to registered sex offenders notifying them of where they’re allowed to be can be modified to include the bill’s new prohibitions. 

The legislation passed the Senate unanimously and now heads to the House Transportation and Public Safety subcommittee.

This article first appeared on Virginia Mercury and is republished here with permission. Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence.