Bill Commons

VA HB 949

Status unknown

Covenants not to compete; exceptions, civil penalty.

Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower

Quick answers

Did VA HB 949 pass?

The current status of VA HB 949 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-02-03): Continued to next session in Labor and Commerce (Voice Vote)

What is VA HB 949 about?

Covenants not to compete; exceptions; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a covenant not to compete with employees who perform key duties of the employer's enterprise or customarily and regularly solicit customers or make sales or contracts for the employer. Under the bill, certain employees are permitted to enter agreements to refrain from soliciting business from the employer for a stated period of time following termination. The penalty provisions in current law for covenants not to compete for low-wage employees shall apply to a violation of the provisions of the bill. The provisions of the bill apply to contracts entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026.

Who sponsors VA HB 949?

Alfonso H. Lopez is the primary sponsor of VA HB 949.

Description

Covenants not to compete; exceptions; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from entering into, enforcing, or threatening to enforce a covenant not to compete with employees who perform key duties of the employer's enterprise or customarily and regularly solicit customers or make sales or contracts for the employer. Under the bill, certain employees are permitted to enter agreements to refrain from soliciting business from the employer for a stated period of time following termination. The penalty provisions in current law for covenants not to compete for low-wage employees shall apply to a violation of the provisions of the bill. The provisions of the bill apply to contracts entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026.

Introduced
2026-01-13
Latest action
2026-02-03 — Continued to next session in Labor and Commerce (Voice Vote)
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Alfonso H. Lopezprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2026-01-13

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102467D

    filing,introduction

  2. 2026-01-13

    Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

    referral-committee

  3. 2026-01-22

    Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #2

    referral-committee

  4. 2026-01-29

    Subcommittee recommends continuing to (Voice Vote)

  5. 2026-02-03

    Continued to next session in Labor and Commerce (Voice Vote)

Versions

Documents

Votes

Not provided by source.

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB949

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

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  • Committee referrals are not yet captured.

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