                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

NONDISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT; DEFINITIONS; EXCEPTIONS (§ 2.2-3905)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Age&#8221; means being an individual who is at least 40 years of age.
			&#8220;Domestic worker&#8221; means an individual who is compensated directly
or indirectly for the performance of services of a household nature performed in
or about a private home, including services performed by individuals such as
companions, babysitters, cooks, waiters, butlers, valets, maids, housekeepers,
nannies, nurses, janitors, laundresses, caretakers, handymen, gardeners, home
health aides, personal care aides, and chauffeurs of automobiles for family use.
&#8220;Domestic worker&#8221; does not include (i) a family member, friend, or
neighbor of a child, or a parent of a child, who provides child care in the
child&#8217;s home; (ii) any child day program as defined in &#xA7; 22.1-289.02
or an individual who is an employee of a child day program; or (iii) any
employee employed on a casual basis in domestic service employment to provide
companionship services for individuals who, because of age or infirmity, are
unable to care for themselves.
			&#8220;Employee&#8221; means an individual employed by an employer.
			&#8220;Employer&#8221; means a person employing (i) 15 or more employees for
each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or
preceding calendar year, and any agent of such a person or (ii) one or more
domestic workers. However, (a) for purposes of unlawful discharge under
subdivision B 1 on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic or national
origin, military status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital
status, disability, pregnancy, or childbirth or related medical conditions
including lactation, &#8220;employer&#8221; means any person employing more than
five persons or one or more domestic workers and (b) for purposes of unlawful
discharge under subdivision B 1 on the basis of age, &#8220;employer&#8221;
means any employer employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons.
			&#8220;Employment agency&#8221; means any person, or an agent of such person,
regularly undertaking with or without compensation to procure employees for an
employer or to procure for employees opportunities to work for an employer.
			&#8220;Joint apprenticeship committee&#8221; means the same as that term is
defined in &#xA7; 2.2-2043.
			&#8220;Labor organization&#8221; means an organization engaged in an
industry, or an agent of such organization, that exists for the purpose, in
whole or in part, of dealing with employers on behalf of employees concerning
grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours, or other terms or
conditions of employment. &#8220;Labor organization&#8221; includes employee
representation committees, groups, or associations in which employees
participate.
			&#8220;Lactation&#8221; means a condition that may result in the feeding of a
child directly from the breast or the expressing of milk from the breast.

B. It is an unlawful discriminatory practice for:

   1. An employer to:
   				a. Fail or refuse to hire, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against
   any individual with respect to such individual&#8217;s compensation, terms,
   conditions, or privileges of employment because of such individual&#8217;s
   race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital
   status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions including
   lactation, age, military status, disability, or ethnic or national origin; or
   				b. Limit, segregate, or classify employees or applicants for employment in
   any way that would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment
   opportunities or otherwise adversely affect an individual&#8217;s status as an
   employee, because of such individual&#8217;s race, color, religion, sex,
   sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or
   related medical conditions including lactation, age, military status,
   disability, or ethnic or national origin.

   2. An employment agency to:
   				a. Fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise discriminate
   against, any individual because of such individual&#8217;s race, color,
   religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy,
   childbirth or related medical conditions, age, military status, disability, or
   ethnic or national origin; or
   				b. Classify or refer for employment any individual on the basis of such
   individual&#8217;s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender
   identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions,
   age, military status, disability, or ethnic or national origin.

   3. A labor organization to:
   				a. Exclude or expel from its membership, or otherwise discriminate
   against, any individual because of such individual&#8217;s race, color,
   religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy,
   childbirth or related medical conditions, age, military status, disability, or
   ethnic or national origin;
   				b. Limit, segregate, or classify its membership or applicants for
   membership, or classify or fail to or refuse to refer for employment any
   individual, in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive such individual
   of employment opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or
   otherwise adversely affect an individual&#8217;s status as an employee or as
   an applicant for employment, because of such individual&#8217;s race, color,
   religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy,
   childbirth or related medical conditions, age, military status, disability, or
   ethnic or national origin; or
   				c. Cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an
   individual in violation of subdivisions a or b.

   4. An employer, labor organization, or joint apprenticeship committee to
   discriminate against any individual in any program to provide apprenticeship
   or other training program on the basis of such individual&#8217;s race, color,
   religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or
   related medical conditions, age, military status, disability, or ethnic or
   national origin.

   5. An employer, in connection with the selection or referral of applicants or
   candidates for employment or promotion, to adjust the scores of, use different
   cutoff scores for, or otherwise alter the results of employment-related tests
   on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender
   identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions,
   age, military status, disability, or ethnic or national origin.

   6. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an employer to use race,
   color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status,
   pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, military status,
   disability, or ethnic or national origin as a motivating factor for any
   employment practice, even though other factors also motivate the practice.

   7. (i) An employer to discriminate against any employees or applicants for
   employment, (ii) an employment agency or a joint apprenticeship committee
   controlling an apprenticeship or other training program to discriminate
   against any individual, or (iii) a labor organization to discriminate against
   any member thereof or applicant for membership because such individual has
   opposed any practice made an unlawful discriminatory practice by this chapter
   or because such individual has made a charge, testified, assisted, or
   participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under
   this chapter.

   8. An employer, labor organization, employment agency, or joint apprenticeship
   committee controlling an apprenticeship or other training program to print or
   publish, or cause to be printed or published, any notice or advertisement
   relating to (i) employment by such an employer, (ii) membership in or any
   classification or referral for employment by such a labor organization, (iii)
   any classification or referral for employment by such an employment agency, or
   (iv) admission to, or employment in, any program established to provide
   apprenticeship or other training by such a joint apprenticeship committee that
   indicates any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination based
   on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital
   status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, military
   status, disability, or ethnic or national origin, except that such a notice or
   advertisement may indicate a preference, limitation, specification, or
   discrimination based on religion, sex, age, or ethnic or national origin when
   religion, sex, age, or ethnic or national origin is a bona fide occupational
   qualification for employment.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, it is not an unlawful
discriminatory practice:

   1. For (i) an employer to hire and employ employees; (ii) an employment agency
   to classify, or refer for employment, any individual; (iii) a labor
   organization to classify its membership or to classify or refer for employment
   any individual; or (iv) an employer, labor organization, or joint
   apprenticeship committee to admit or employ any individual in any
   apprenticeship or other training program on the basis of such
   individual&#8217;s religion, sex, or age in those certain instances where
   religion, sex, or age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably
   necessary to the normal operation of that particular employer, employment
   agency, labor organization, or joint apprenticeship committee;

   2. For an elementary or secondary school or institution of higher education to
   hire and employ employees of a particular religion if such elementary or
   secondary school or institution of higher education is, in whole or in
   substantial part, owned, supported, controlled, or managed by a particular
   religion or by a particular religious corporation, association, or society or
   if the curriculum of such elementary or secondary school or institution of
   higher education is directed toward the propagation of a particular religion;

   3. For an employer to apply different standards of compensation, or different
   terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, pursuant to a bona fide
   seniority or merit system, or a system that measures earnings by quantity or
   quality of production, or to employees who work in different locations,
   provided that such differences are not the result of an intention to
   discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender
   identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions,
   age, military status, disability, or ethnic or national origin;

   4. For an employer to give and to act upon the results of any professionally
   developed ability test, provided that such test, its administration, or an
   action upon the results is not designed, intended, or used to discriminate
   because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,
   marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age,
   military status, disability, or ethnic or national origin;

   5. For an employer to provide reasonable accommodations related to disability,
   pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, and lactation, when such
   accommodations are requested by the employee; or

   6. For an employer to condition employment or premises access based upon
   citizenship where the employer is subject to any requirement imposed in the
   interest of the national security of the United States under any security
   program in effect pursuant to or administered under any statute or regulation
   of the federal government or any executive order of the President of the
   United States.

D. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require any employer,
employment agency, labor organization, or joint apprenticeship committee to
grant preferential treatment to any individual or to any group because of such
individual&#8217;s or group&#8217;s race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related
medical conditions, age, military status, disability, or ethnic or national
origin on account of an imbalance that may exist with respect to the total
number or percentage of persons of any race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related
medical conditions, age, military status, disability, or ethnic or national
origin employed by any employer, referred or classified for employment by any
employment agency or labor organization, admitted to membership or classified by
any labor organization, or admitted to or employed in any apprenticeship or
other training program, in comparison with the total number or percentage of
persons of such race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,
marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age,
military status, disability, or ethnic or national origin in any community.

E. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the employment of
individuals of a particular religion by a religious corporation, association,
educational institution, or society to perform work associated with its
activities.

HISTORY: 2020, c. 1140; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 12, 477, 478, 506, 513; 2023, cc.
624, 625; 2024, cc. 266, 334.