On March 23, 2015, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a social media password privacy bill (H.B. 2081) that limits employers’ access to employees’ and job applicants’ personal social media accounts. Effective July 1, Virginia employers are prohibited from requiring current or prospective employees to share login credentials or add a supervisor as a contact on their personal account. In addition, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees or refusing to hire job applicants for exercising such social media privacy rights.
If you have a question about whether a management practice or policy will be affected by this law, please contact a member of our employment team: Jim Cowan at jcowan@cowanperry.com, David Perry at dperry@cowanperry.com, Brian Wheeler at bwheeler@cowanperry.com, or Eric Chapman at echapman@cowanperry.com.
CowanPerry PC represents employers throughout the New River Valley and Southwest Virginia, from offices located in Roanoke and Blacksburg.