| Fair Employment Practices | According to the West Virginia Human Rights Act (WVHRA), it is unlawful to discriminate against job candidates and workers based on protected traits such as race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, handicap, blindness, pregnancy, and age.
The WVHRA forbids sexual harassment and any reprisal against someone who has complained, testified or aided in a WVHRA-related proceeding or has objected to a practice or action prohibited by the law. |
| Pregnancy Accommodation | The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) in West Virginia forbids discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or circumstances connected to those conditions. The PWFA also requires employers to make reasonable adjustments for pregnant employees, including changing work schedules and giving them access to more practical and usable facilities. |
| Equal Pay | According to West Virginia's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, employers must pay male and female employees the same wage rate for similar work that demands similar abilities.
If wages are produced under a system based on seniority, merit, or the quantity or quality of production, or if a differential is based on good-faith considerations other than sex, the equal pay rule does not apply. |
| Criminal Checks | If they are fairly linked to the job's requirements, West Virginia law enables inquiries into an applicant's prior convictions, excluding those expunged or sealed. The applicant's permission is required before the employer can get the records through a background check from a third party. |
| Drug Testing | The West Virginia Safer Workplace Act, allows employers to require drug and alcohol testing of potential workers. Testing is not mandated under the Act, but employers that decide to provide tests must abide by the rules.
Additionally, any drug or alcohol testing or retesting must be done under the conditions of a published policy that potential employees can see.The employer must cover the full cost of a mandated drug or alcohol test. |
| Minimum Wage | Nonexempt workers must be paid at least $8.75 per hour under West Virginia's Minimum Pay and Maximum Hours Standards Law. The rule applies to employers with six or more employees working in a single, distinct, and permanent location throughout any given week. |
| Overtime | According to West Virginia law, companies with six or more employees in a single location must pay nonexempt workers 1.5 times their regular pay rate for all hours above 40 in a workweek. |
| Meal Breaks | When working six or more hours in a workday, employees who are not "afforded necessary breaks and permitted to eat lunch while working" must be given meal breaks of at least 20 minutes. A meal break that lasts longer than 30 minutes may not be paid, but one that lasts 20 minutes or less must be compensated. |
| Child Labor | All minors are not allowed to work in dangerous jobs, such as power-driven heavy machinery, coal mine, excavation, logging, sawmilling, or smelting. Additionally, they are not permitted to sell, dispense, or serve alcoholic beverages or work in a bar.
The only occupations in which minors under the age of 14 are permitted to work are those related to agriculture and horticulture, domestic work performed at the employer's home, work for parents or legal guardians in their solely owned business, acting or performing in motion pictures, theater, radio, or television, and newspaper delivery.
Minors have a right to a food break if they work more than five hours straight. |
| Pay Notices | Employers in West Virginia must inform new hires of their pay rate, overtime rate, fringe benefits, and the day, hour, and location of payment at the time of employment. |
| Wage Deductions | Employers can withhold specific amounts from employees' paychecks, including those mandated by law (such as income and employment taxes), union dues, and medical insurance payments. The company and the employee may agree upon other deductions. |
| Health Care Continuation | The West Virginia Health Care Continuation Coverage Law mandates that employers with fewer than 20 workers continue offering group health insurance to employees involuntarily laid off or fired for up to 18 months (absent misconduct that would prevent the employee from receiving unemployment benefits). |
| Leaves of Absence | All employers are subject to a few rules in West Virginia governing mandatory time off and leaves of absence for workers. These statutes cover leave for jury service, the armed forces, the Civil Air Patrol, first responders, public authorities, and voters. |
| Smoke-Free Workplace | Smoking is prohibited in West Virginia in any area where an employer is legally required to post a No Smoking sign, such as factories, mercantile businesses, mills, or workshops. |
| Weapons in the Workplace | According to the Business Liability Protection Act, if an employee, customer, or invitee is permitted to be present in the area and a firearm is lawfully in their possession, out of sight, and locked inside or locked to a motor vehicle in a parking lot, the employer may allow them from doing so. |
| Safe Driving Practices | Driving while using a portable device to talk, text, email, play games, view, or send photos or data is prohibited in West Virginia. |
| Final Pay | All earnings earned before the end of work must be paid by the following regular payday, either in the standard form of payment or by mail upon the employee's request, as per West Virginia's Wage Payment and Collection Act.
Wages owing to a deceased employee of $800 or less may be paid without letters, testamentary, or before the administration of the estate in the absence of actual notice of probate proceedings. |
