New hiring laws in Vermont for 2027: the health care non-compete ban, a $14.91 minimum wage, crime victim proof and licensing changes

As of November 2026, the biggest Vermont hiring change of 2026 is in health care: 21 V.S.A. § 495q, added by Act 177 (S.313) and signed June 18, 2026, voids non-competes and several related clauses in contracts with licensed, certified or authorized health care providers entered into on or after July 1, 2026. The same act lets survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking show their protected "crime victim" status under the Fair Employment Practices Act with a self-attestation. Act 119 (H.588) adds new routes to a CPA license and fingerprint checks for physicians and physician assistants, and on January 1, 2027 the minimum wage rises to $14.91 an hour ($7.46 for tipped employees).

Vermont passed no new pay transparency, salary history, AI hiring or E-Verify law in 2026; its pay range rule has applied since July 1, 2025. Each item below links to the act as enacted on the General Assembly's site or to the Department of Labor's own announcement. The standing checklist (Department of Labor and Department of Taxes accounts, the W-4VT, notices at hire, new-hire reporting) is in our Vermont hiring hub; this page is the dated list of what is new.

Which Vermont hiring laws changed in 2026, and what changes in 2027?

Vermont acts, Department of Labor rates and the federal rules that apply to Vermont employers, sorted by date.

Which health care non-competes are void in Vermont from July 1, 2026?

Section 8e of Act 177 adds 21 V.S.A. § 495q. Any provision in a contract or agreement "that creates or establishes the terms of a partnership, employment, or any other form of professional relationship with a health care provider" for care in Vermont "shall be void and unenforceable" if it:

• restricts the provider's right to provide health care services "in any geographical area for any period of time" after the relationship ends;
• limits a departing provider's ability to tell the people they treated about the change of employment;
• restricts the provider from making disparaging statements about another party or a named third-party beneficiary;
• is inconsistent with Vermont law; or
• requires litigation arising from the contract's performance in Vermont to be conducted in another state.

A health care provider is "a person licensed, certified, or authorized by law to provide professional health care service in this State," so the rule reaches nurses, therapists and allied health staff as well as physicians. Employers may not retaliate against an employee who uses these rights, and the Fair Employment Practices Act's penalty and enforcement provisions apply. The section covers contracts "entered into on or after July 1, 2026." It reached the statute book by an unusual route: the same text was in S.230, a fair employment practices bill that the Governor vetoed on June 18, 2026, and was added to the career technical education bill signed that day. Vermont still has no general non-compete statute; the case-law test and the questions to ask a candidate are in Vermont non-compete law.

What changed in the Fair Employment Practices Act?

Three changes in Act 177 took effect on passage, June 18, 2026:

• Proof of crime victim status. "Crime victim" is a protected category under the Fair Employment Practices Act. The amended definition in 21 V.S.A. § 495d now includes a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking with supporting documentation from a court or agency, an assistance program, a professional who helped them, or "a self-attestation by the person describing the circumstances," for which "no further corroboration shall be required unless otherwise mandated by law." Do not ask for police reports or court orders when an applicant or employee has given a self-attestation.
• Mandatory faculty retirement. The provision in 21 V.S.A. § 495g that let colleges retire tenured faculty at 70 is repealed.
• Municipal officers. Elected and appointed municipal officers are no longer "employees" under the state minimum wage and overtime subchapter.

What is Vermont's minimum wage in 2027?

The Department of Labor announced on November 9, 2026 that "the State's minimum wage will increase from $14.42 to $14.91 per hour" on January 1, 2027, and "the tipped minimum wage will increase from $7.21 to $7.46 per hour," with the rates set each year under 21 V.S.A. § 384. The same day it set the 2027 unemployment taxable wage base at $16,100, up from $15,400. Because Vermont employers with five or more employees must put pay in job ads, check that ranges posted now for entry-level roles starting in 2027 do not begin below $14.91; the posting rule is in Vermont's pay transparency law.

What changed for licensed professionals and health care employers?

• CPAs. Act 119, effective on passage June 8, 2026, lets an applicant qualify with a postbaccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration and one year of public accounting experience, 150 semester hours including a bachelor's degree and 42 accounting hours with one year of experience, or "a baccalaureate degree ... with a concentration in accounting or an equivalent and two years of experience in public accounting." Candidates with a four-year degree no longer need 150 hours.
• Physician background checks. The same act lets the Board of Medical Practice obtain Vermont, out-of-state and fingerprint-supported FBI records before acting on initial or renewal applications of medical doctors, podiatrists, anesthesiologist assistants, physician assistants and radiologist assistants. The applicant bears the cost and must be told "that criminal convictions are not an absolute bar to licensure." Build that step into start dates for physician hires.
• Massage and bodywork. From December 1, 2026, anyone who "owns or operates an unregistered establishment" faces the unauthorized-practice penalties, and an establishment must display its own registration and its practitioners'. A location staffed by a single practitioner or by exempt persons does not need one.
• Hospital roles. Under Act 92, from May 6, 2026, APRNs and physician assistants may be the attending clinician responsible for coordinating a hospital patient's care and signing records.
• Cannabis employees. Under Section 13 of Act 176, from July 1, 2027, establishments pay "a biennial licensing fee of $100.00 for each employee" and "employee licenses shall be valid for two years."
• Internationally trained physicians. Act 172 asks the Department of Health and the Board of Medical Practice to report on a licensure pathway by January 15, 2027; provisional licenses at certain facilities start only in 2028.

Did Vermont pass an AI hiring or applicant privacy law?

No. The 2025-2026 bills on automated employment decisions stayed in committee, as our Vermont hiring hub records. Vermont's comprehensive privacy law, Act 145, takes effect January 1, 2028, and its definition of consumer "does not include an individual acting in a commercial or employment context or as an employee." Applicant data stays under the existing credit history, salary history and drug testing statutes.

Which federal hiring changes apply in Vermont?

• Form I-9. The USCIS Form I-9 page lists the 01/20/25 edition as current and the 08/01/23 edition as valid until its 05/31/2027 expiration; the printing that expired 07/31/2026 is no longer valid, and electronic systems had to update by 07/31/2026.
• Work permits. The DHS final rule effective October 14, 2026 ends automatic EAD extensions in the affected categories; see I-9 and the EAD automatic extension.
• E-Verify. Since August 11, 2026, the Status Change Report lists invalidated EADs in five categories; E-Verify says employers "must reverify that employee's Form I-9 using Supplement B" and should not create a new case. Separately, records last updated on or before December 31, 2016 are disposed of on January 11, 2027.
• Federal contractors and criminal history. The OFCCP's Executive Order 11246 rules ended October 26, 2026, and the EEOC rescinded its 2012 criminal records guidance on October 28, 2026. Title VII still applies, and a job-related review using the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it and the nature of the job) is still a sound way to decide. Vermont's own rule, 21 V.S.A. § 495j, still keeps the question off the initial application and requires a chance to explain; see Vermont ban-the-box.

What did not change in Vermont?

• Pay ranges and pay history. The range rule has applied since July 1, 2025, and salary history questions have been barred since 2018; see Vermont's salary history ban.
• Drug testing of applicants is still limited to after a conditional offer, under the statute in Vermont drug testing laws.
• E-Verify is still voluntary; see E-Verify requirements in Vermont.
• Recording interviews still turns on the federal one-party rule; see Vermont recording consent for interviews.

What should Vermont employers do before January 1, 2027?

1. Strip restrictive clauses from health care provider contracts signed from July 1, 2026, and record the signing date of every clinician's earlier agreement.
2. Accept a self-attestation as documentation of crime victim status in leave, accommodation and hiring procedures.
3. Reprice entry-level roles for $14.91 and $7.46 from January 1, and update posted ranges.
4. Register massage and bodywork locations with the Office of Professional Regulation by December 1, 2026.
5. Check I-9 editions and reverification dates, run the Status Change Report, and download any E-Verify cases from 2016 or earlier by January 8, 2027.
6. Rewrite criminal history procedures so they cite Title VII and Vermont's § 495j instead of the rescinded EEOC guidance.

What does this mean for staffing agencies in Vermont?

Section 495q covers any contract setting the terms of employment or another professional relationship with a provider, so it reaches a health care staffing firm's own agreements with the nurses and therapists it places from July 1, 2026; whether it reaches a no-hire or conversion clause between an agency and a facility is less clear, as our Vermont staffing agency guide explains. Temporary workers on Vermont assignments must be paid at least $14.91 from January 1, 2027. Agencies that use E-Verify as an employer agent must, in E-Verify's words, "notify your clients of any cases with invalidated EADs." Employer of record arrangements are covered in employer of record in Vermont, and other states' 2027 changes are in new hiring laws for 2027.