Lopez wage theft and worker safety bills pass House, head to Senate
One responds to a Virginia Supreme Court ruling. The other preserves federal protections if they're rolled back.
Two bills from Del. Alfonso Lopez passed the House of Delegates on Monday on identical 64-35 votes. Both head to the Senate.
HB 238: Wage theft
HB 238 strengthens Virginia’s wage theft law by making employers who violate minimum wage, overtime, or worker misclassification rules liable for damages, including triple damages for knowing violations. Employees can bring collective actions. General contractors become jointly liable when subcontractors don’t pay workers on projects over $500,000.
The engrossed text also adds “commissions” to the legal definition of wages, along with tips, bonuses, severance and accrued leave. That responds to a Jan. 6 Virginia Supreme Court ruling that the existing statute does not cover commissions.
Lopez, who represents parts of Alexandria and Arlington and chairs the House Labor subcommittee, described the bill in a Feb. 2 constituent newsletter as giving the state “the tools to go after employers who steal lawfully owed wages from their employees.”
HB 339: Federal safety backstop
HB 339 requires Virginia to preserve existing worker protection standards if the federal government weakens them, covering workplace safety (OSHA), wage and hour rules, and mine safety.
Under the bill text, if the U.S. Secretary of Labor repeals or weakens a previously promulgated standard — or if a federal agency reinterprets rules to make them less protective — Virginia’s Safety and Health Codes Board, Commissioner of Labor or Department of Energy must adopt regulations preserving the prior standard.
Lopez described it as “allowing our Department of Labor and Industry to restore worker safety and wage rules when repealed or weakened by the federal government.”
The Trump administration has proposed eliminating or revising more than 60 workplace safety and wage regulations. The FY 2026 budget proposal would cut OSHA funding 8 percent — from $632 million to $582 million — and reduce its workforce by 223 positions. A December 2025 Good Jobs First analysis found combined federal wage and safety penalties dropped 66 percent, with wage and hour enforcement cases down 97 percent.
Virginia operates its own OSHA-approved state plan through the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program, covering most private-sector and all state and local government workers.
How Alexandria’s delegation voted
Both bills passed 64-35 with all Republican members voting no.
- Lopez (HD-3): Chief patron. Yes.
- Herring (HD-4): Yes.
- Bennett-Parker (HD-5): Yes.
