Less than one year ago, the Virginia Overtime Wage Act (VOWA) took effect dramatically diverting the state’s overtime pay laws from its long-standing reliance on the federal standards set forth in the Fair Labor Standard Act. Come July 1 of this year, Virginia will again align its overtime standards with the federal standard. The VOWA overtime calculation provided a higher regular hourly rate of pay for hour for non-exempt employees by mandating a 40-hour week rather than actual hours worked. With new Governor Youngkin signing H.1173 into law just two weeks ago, most of the egregious provisions of the VOWA have been reversed. For example, the overtime calculation under VOWA required the employer to pay a regular pay rate calculated by dividing total compensation by 40 hours rather than actual hours worked. As a result, the hourly wage for overtime purposes was an artificially higher rate of pay. H.1173 eliminates this difference and restores the FLSA regular calculation method. However, one remnant that remains from VOWA allows employees to bring overtime wage claims in either state or federal court.