Kristina Keech Spitler, Esq., VP/Shareholder Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian P.C.
Significant employment legislation is expected from the Virginia General Assembly this year, with new laws taking effect on July 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027. Is your organization prepared?
Over the past several months, we’ve been closely tracking a wide array of proposed bills in the Virginia General Assembly that directly impact employment-related matters. Our focus has been on understanding the workplace issues that the elected officials are looking to address, which bills fail, and which bills successfully make their way through the legislative process, ultimately receive the Governor’s signature, and become law. These new laws will significantly shape HR compliance and workplace policies across the state.
This session is designed to give HR professionals a practical, HR-focused overview of these legislative changes. Attendees will gain clear guidance on the new laws and how to help their organization comply with them as well as understand some workplace trends. By the end of the webinar, participants will walk away with the confidence to lead their teams through these changes.
Learning Objectives:
•Explain the new Virginia employment-related laws and their anticipated effective dates.
•Evaluate the impact of new legal requirements on their organizations’ practices and policies.
•Develop a compliant implementation roadmap aligned with July 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027 effective dates.
•Identify areas of increased compliance risk.
•Apply SHRM competencies in Legal & Compliance and HR Strategy to guide leadership through legislative change and workforce impact.
Kristina Keech Spitler is Vice President/Shareholder of Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, P.C., where she is part of the management team and heads the Employment Law Section and Investigation Section. With thirty-five years of experience in a multitude of areas, including as a former prosecutor, Kris routinely advises large and small businesses and municipal clients on employment matters and conducts workplace investigations. She served as a law clerk for the Circuit Court Judges of the Thirty-First Judicial Circuit. Kris has been recognized as one of Virginia's "Go To Lawyers" for Employment Law by Virginia Lawyers Weekly, one of Virginia's "Most Influential Women" and a "Leader in the Law" by Virginia Lawyers Media, and as a "Legal Elite" in Labor/Employment Law from Virginia Business Magazine. She has also received the AV Preeminate rating, Martindale-Hubbell's highest professional achievement, and received the Arthur W. Sinclair Professionalism Award from the Prince William County Bar Association in 2022. Kris has been honored as a member of the Virginia Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Kris currently Co-Chairs the VBA's Committee on Small-Firm and Solo Practice. She is also a certified life coach.