Dental Office Employee Handbook: What Virginia Practices Should Include

A good employee handbook does two jobs. It tells your team how the practice works, from schedules and PTO to dress code and phone use, and it protects the practice by putting key policies in writing before there’s a dispute. Virginia employment law has changed quickly since 2020, and the 2026 General Assembly session added several more changes, so a handbook written even three years ago is probably out of date. This guide covers what to include and the Virginia rules that matter most for a dental office.

This is general information, not legal advice. Employment law changes often, and several 2026 laws phase in over the next few years. Have a Virginia employment attorney review your handbook before you roll it out.

Core sections every dental handbook needs

Virginia rules to reflect

Anti-discrimination: most offices are covered

The Virginia Human Rights Act defines an employer as one with five or more employees for each working day in 20 or more weeks in the current or prior year. That threshold was lowered by 2026 legislation and covers practices too small for most federal laws, which generally start at 15 employees. Protected characteristics include race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions including lactation, age (40 and over), military status and disability. Your EEO and harassment policies should list them all.

Pay frequency and final pay

Under Va. Code § 40.1-29, hourly employees must be paid at least every two weeks or twice a month and salaried employees at least once a month. Each payday, employees must get a pay statement showing the employer’s name and address, hours worked (for hourly staff), rate, gross pay and each deduction. Departing employees must be paid all wages due by the next regular payday.

Minimum wage

The Virginia minimum wage is $12.77 an hour in 2026 and is scheduled to rise to $13.75 on January 1, 2027 and $15.00 on January 1, 2028. Most clinical roles pay well above this, but check sterilization, trainee and front-desk rates. See dental staff pay in Virginia for market data.

Non-competes

Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:8 bars non-competes with low-wage employees (those earning less than the state average weekly wage) and, since July 1, 2025, with any employee entitled to overtime. That covers most hygienists, assistants and front-desk staff. The law also requires every employer to post a copy of the statute or an approved summary where other required notices are posted, with penalties of up to $1,000 for repeat failures. As amended in 2026, it also makes a non-compete unenforceable against an employee discharged without cause unless severance or another payment, disclosed when the agreement was signed, is provided; confirm with counsel which agreements that reaches. A separate ban covering certain licensed health care professionals lists the Boards of Medicine, Nursing, Counseling, Optometry, Psychology and Social Work, not the Board of Dentistry. Non-solicitation and confidentiality clauses are treated differently and still have a place. For dentists’ agreements, see non-compete clauses for dentists in Virginia.

Pay transparency

Since July 1, 2026, Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:12 requires Virginia employers to include a good-faith pay range in job postings and bars asking applicants for their pay history. Your hiring section, and any internal promotion process, should reflect that.

Talking about pay

Don’t include a rule against discussing wages. Besides federal labor law, Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:9 bars Virginia employers from disciplining employees for asking about, discussing or disclosing their own or a coworker’s pay. There is a narrow exception for staff who see payroll records as part of their job, such as an office manager, who can be told not to share what they see in that role.

Pregnancy, childbirth and lactation

Va. Code § 2.2-3909 requires employers with five or more employees to make reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions, including lactation, unless doing so would be an undue hardship. Examples in the law include more frequent breaks, time and a private place other than a bathroom to express milk, light duty and modified schedules. Federal law adds the PUMP Act, which requires reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom space for nursing employees for a year after birth. For a clinical team, plan where that space is before you need it.

Jury duty, military service and whistleblowers

• Jury duty and court appearances. Va. Code § 18.2-465.1 bars penalizing an employee for jury service or a court summons and bars requiring them to use sick leave or vacation for it. An employee who serves four or more hours in a day can’t be required to work a shift that starts at or after 5 p.m. that day or before 3 a.m. the next morning.
• Military service. In addition to federal USERRA rights, Virginia protects members of the Virginia National Guard and Virginia Defense Force called to state duty, including unpaid leave and reemployment (Va. Code § 44-93.2 and following sections).
• Whistleblowers. Va. Code § 40.1-27.3 protects employees who in good faith report a violation of law to a supervisor or government body, cooperate with an investigation, or refuse to break the law. Your complaint procedure should say retaliation isn’t tolerated.
• Social media accounts. Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:5 bars requiring employees to share personal social media logins or to add a manager as a contact. Your social media policy can still prohibit posting patient information.
• Medical cannabis. Va. Code § 40.1-27.4 protects employees’ lawful use of certified medical cannabis oil, but still lets you prohibit possession at work and act on impairment during work hours. In a clinical setting, your drug and alcohol policy should say so plainly.

Leave policies: what’s changing

Paid sick leave

Virginia’s 2021 paid sick leave law covers only certain home health workers. Legislation signed in 2026 extends paid sick leave to nearly all private employees, phased in by employer size:

Under the new law (Va. Code § 40.1-33.6:2 and following sections), employees accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, starting on their first day, and may accrue or use up to 40 hours a year unless you allow more. Part-time staff are included. Leave can be used for the employee’s or a family member’s illness, injury or care, and for needs related to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. Other key points:

• Unused leave carries over to the next year. Giving employees the full 40 hours at the start of the year satisfies the accrual requirement; ask counsel how front-loading interacts with carryover in your policy.
• You don’t have to pay out unused sick leave when someone leaves, but if you rehire them within 12 months, unused leave must be reinstated unless it was paid out.
• You can require reasonable notice for foreseeable leave only if you have a written policy given to employees, and you can ask for documentation only after an absence of three or more consecutive workdays.
• Employees can’t be required to use leave in increments larger than four hours.
• Keep sick leave records for three years.
• Certain as-needed (PRN) employees who are licensed by a Health Professions board are exempt, which may cover per diem hygienists. Check the exemption’s conditions with counsel before relying on it.

The Department of Labor and Industry is expected to issue regulations and a required poster before the first phase starts.

If your PTO policy already gives at least 40 hours a year usable for these purposes, you may be able to adapt it rather than add a separate bank. Have counsel confirm before the deadline that applies to you.

Paid family and medical leave

The 2026 session also created a state paid family and medical leave insurance program, run by the Virginia Employment Commission (Title 60.2, Chapter 8). Under the statute, the program is to be set up by January 1, 2028, payroll contributions are to begin by April 1, 2028, and benefits by December 1, 2028. Details are still being set, so watch for guidance and plan for the payroll change.

Federal leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act applies to employers with 50 or more employees. Federal law also protects pregnancy accommodations (for employers with 15 or more employees under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act) and break time and space for nursing employees. Virginia law also addresses accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth and lactation, so your accommodation policy should cover both.

Dental-specific policies

• Exposure incidents. Who to tell, where the post-exposure plan is, and that evaluation and follow-up are at no cost to the employee, as the OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard requires. See OSHA and HIPAA basics for the full program.
• Licenses and registrations. Employees must keep licenses current, tell you about any Board action, and not perform duties outside their scope.
• Patient privacy online. No posting photos, X-rays, schedules or comments about patients, even without names.
• Personal phones in clinical areas. When they can be used, and that patient information never goes on personal devices unless approved and secured.
• Production-based pay or bonuses. If you pay hygiene or team bonuses, describe how they’re calculated and when they’re paid.

Required posters go alongside the handbook

A handbook doesn’t replace workplace posters. The Department of Labor and Industry’s required posters page lists the current state notices, which include the Virginia OSHA “Job Safety and Health” poster, the pregnancy accommodations notice, the Virginia Employment Commission and Workers’ Compensation Commission notices, and earned-income tax credit notices. Federal posters cover equal employment opportunity, minimum wage (FLSA), the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and FMLA if you have 50 or more employees. Add the non-compete statute or its approved summary, and the paid sick leave poster once DOLI issues it. Post them where staff actually see them, such as the break room.

A handbook update timeline for 2026 to 2029

Put a date on the cover of each version and keep the old ones. If a dispute arises, you’ll need to show which policy was in effect at the time.

Common handbook mistakes

• Copying a template from another state, with rules that don’t apply in Virginia or miss ones that do.
• Promising “permanent” employment or guaranteed progressive discipline, which can undercut at-will status.
• Forbidding staff from discussing pay. Virginia law and federal labor law both protect employees’ right to talk about wages, and federal law also protects most non-supervisory employees’ discussion of working conditions.
• Writing broad confidentiality, civility or social media rules that could be read as stopping staff from talking about pay or working conditions. Tie confidentiality rules to patient information and business records.
• Writing policies the practice doesn’t follow. An unenforced policy can be worse than none.
• Never updating it. Review every year, and whenever a new law takes effect.

Roll-out and acknowledgment

Give every employee the updated handbook, walk through the main changes in a team meeting, and collect signed acknowledgments. Keep them in each personnel file. New hires should sign on day one; see onboarding new dental staff.

Getting help

Cisor’s practice management team helps practices organize their policies, align the handbook with how the office actually runs and prepare for the 2027 to 2029 leave changes, working alongside your employment attorney for the legal review. Call (703) 345-0606.