New Virginia law will protect workers from extreme heat. Republicans tried to stop it.

Virginia workers who spend their summers on roofs, road crews, and hot warehouse floors are finally getting state heat protections. But they'll wait through two more summers to see them, and not one Republican lawmaker who voted supported the law.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the law on April 13. It took effect July 1, but it doesn't put rules in place yet. Instead, it orders Virginia's Safety and Health Codes Board to write a heat-illness standard by May 1, 2028. As of September, the state was still writing the rules.

What the rules will require

The law (HB 1092 and SB 288, which have identical text) tells the board what the final standard must include. It covers both indoor and outdoor workplaces and requires:

• Drinking water
• Shade or a climate-controlled area to cool down
• Rest periods
• Time for new workers to adjust to the heat
• Heat-illness training for workers and supervisors
• Extra procedures when temperatures pass thresholds the board will set
• An emergency response plan

Emergency responders, emergency utility and road crews, and heat exposures of 15 minutes or less are exempt.

Why it matters

Virginia has never had a heat standard for workers. Regulators started one in 2021, then dropped it, partly because they expected a federal rule.

"It can be incredibly dangerous and I think people are genuinely surprised to learn that there's nothing on the books," Del. Phil Hernandez (D-Norfolk), the House sponsor, told WHRO in February.

The numbers back him up. More than 4,000 Virginians went to an emergency room or urgent care for heat illness in 2025, about 25% above the past decade's average, according to the Virginia Department of Health. More than 1.2 million Virginians work in industries with high heat risk, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Hernandez said heat stress killed seven Virginia workers in 2024.

Hotter summers, more risk

Virginia's summers have run hot for years. Each of the last five summers (2022 through 2026) was warmer than the 20th-century average of 72.9°F, according to NOAA statewide records. The last column shows the summer's hottest day at Richmond International Airport, from NOAA daily records:

This past summer tied for Virginia's third-hottest since records began in 1895, and NOAA ranked it the hottest summer on record for the continental U.S. In June 2025, Dulles International Airport hit 99°F, breaking its record for the date.

With this law, Virginia joins a short list of states with workplace heat rules: California, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

A party-line fight

The final votes were 61–35 in the House of Delegates and 21–18 in the Senate. Every Democrat who voted said yes. Every Republican who voted said no, according to roll-call records.

None of the news coverage we reviewed quoted a Republican lawmaker explaining the opposition.

The law also came out weaker than it went in. The original bill let workers sue employers who broke the rules. That provision was cut to secure enough votes, WVTF reported. "I would have preferred if the private action stayed," said Charlotte Brody of the BlueGreen Alliance, a labor and environmental coalition that backed the bill.

Who wins, who loses

Workers win, eventually: roofers, farmworkers, road crews, and warehouse and kitchen staff will have enforceable rights to water, shade, and rest.

Employers take on new duties, including written heat plans and training.

Workers don't get a new right to sue. The original bill would have let workers take employers to court for breaking the heat rules, with damages of $1,000, WHRO reported. That was cut. Enforcement will run through the state's workplace safety agency instead.

Workers hurt or killed by heat on the job still have the same path they've always had: workers' compensation, which Virginia law makes the exclusive remedy against an employer for most workplace injuries. Virginia courts have awarded benefits when the job itself made the heat more dangerous. In one case, a highway flagger collapsed after hours on hot asphalt with no water and no relief from his post, and the Court of Appeals upheld his claim.

What's next

Attorney Ryan Stygar, a workers' rights lawyer, former firefighter, and founder of WorkersRights.News, applauded the new rule. "Heat illness is extremely dangerous for workers. The symptoms can be hard to spot initially, but once you cross that tolerance threshold, you are looking at a potentially fatal emergency."

Stygar continued, "Heat safety precautions need not be burdensome. Employers can provide water, shaded areas, and extra breaks to accommodate high heat. These are simple, low cost steps, and they can save lives."

Stygar was a wildland firefighter for several years before transitioning into employment law. During that time, he himself experienced a heat emergency. "When heat illness hits you, a lot of times you lose the mental capacity to recognize what is happening to your body. Confusion, irritability, and a lack of situational awareness are common symptoms. That is why coworkers, managers, and employers need to be proactive in monitoring each other's condition and they need to address heat emergencies before they happen."

But workers will have to wait a little longer before protections kick in.

The Safety and Health Codes Board has until May 1, 2028, to adopt the standard. Virginia's rulemaking process normally includes a public comment period. That leaves the summers of 2026 and 2027 without heat-specific rules.

Until then, Virginia employers still have a general legal duty to keep workplaces free of recognized hazards. If you're working in dangerous heat without water, shade, or breaks, you can file a complaint with Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH). Write down the date, the temperature, and what you were denied, and keep a copy.

Sources

• HB 1092 roll calls (LegiScan): House conference vote (roll call), Senate conference vote (roll call)
• Virginia's Spanberger Approves Workplace Heat Safety Standards (Bloomberg Law)
• Virginia law paves the way for a heat illness prevention rule (Safety+Health)
• New legislation would protect Virginia workers from extreme heat (WHRO)
• Virginia may soon have protections for heat stress (WVTF)
• Virginia June–August average temperature, 1895–2026 (NOAA NCEI)
• Richmond International Airport daily temperatures, station USW00013740 (NOAA NCEI Climate Data Online)
• US records hottest summer in 132 years (Al Jazeera, citing NOAA)
• Extreme heat risk lingers as Virginia hits record temperatures (Axios Richmond)
• Va. Code § 65.2-307, exclusive remedy (Virginia Legislature)
• Kjellstrom & Lee, Inc. v. Saunders, 42 Va. App. 673 (2004)
• Virginia works on new heat-safety standard for outdoor workers (WSET)