Minimum wage and overtime pay; warehouse distribution center employees and employers.
SB 967 would create a new set of workplace rules for warehouse distribution center employers and employees in Virginia, while also revising several existing wage-and-hour statutes. The bill defines “warehouse distribution center” broadly to include warehousing, wholesale distribution, e-commerce fulfillment, and courier/express delivery operations, and it defines “warehouse employee” and “warehouse employer” for purposes of the new section. Covered employers would have to give new hires a written explanation of performance standards and possible discipline, provide advance notice when standards change, and may not discipline workers for using bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from the restroom.
The bill also gives warehouse employees a right to request, up to four times per year, written quota descriptions and recent work-speed data for themselves and comparable employees at the same worksite. It creates enforcement tools including civil penalties, liquidated damages, back pay, interest, attorney fees, and a private right of action, including collective actions. In addition to the warehouse-specific provisions, the bill amends existing wage-payment and overtime statutes to strengthen remedies for unpaid wages, clarify enforcement procedures, and expand or restate employee rights to recover wages, damages, and penalties in court or through the Commissioner of Labor and Industry.
The bill would add a new section to Title 40.1 establishing warehouse employer requirements and would amend existing provisions governing wage payment, minimum wage remedies, and overtime enforcement. It would impose new disclosure obligations on warehouse employers, prohibit retaliation tied to bathroom use, and create both administrative penalties and private causes of action for violations. It would also revise related wage statutes to increase or clarify remedies such as liquidated damages, interest, attorney fees, civil penalties, and the ability to bring collective actions, thereby expanding enforcement options for workers and regulators.
The available voting history suggests the bill faced significant resistance in committee. On January 13, 2025, the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee failed to report the bill by a 6-8 vote, indicating that a majority of committee members opposed advancing it. No committee transcript is available here, so the record does not show detailed debate, but the vote outcome indicates the bill did not have enough support to move forward at that stage.
The main points of contention are likely the bill’s new compliance burdens on warehouse and logistics employers, especially the required disclosure of quotas, work-speed data, and advance notice of performance standards, as well as the prohibition on adverse action related to bathroom use. Employers may also object to the bill’s strong enforcement structure, including civil penalties, liquidated damages, attorney fees, and private collective actions. Supporters would likely emphasize worker transparency, anti-retaliation protections, and limits on quota-driven pressure, but the committee vote suggests those arguments did not overcome concerns about regulatory and litigation exposure.