House Bill 771

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT AN EMPLOYER FROM PAYING AN EMPLOYEE A WAGE AT A RATE LESS THAN THE RATE AT WHICH AN EMPLOYEE OF ANOTHER SEX IN THE SAME ESTABLISHMENT IS PAID FOR EQUAL WORK UNLESS THE WAGE DIFFERENTIAL IS BASED UPON A SENIORITY SYSTEM, A MERIT SYSTEM, A SYSTEM WHICH MEASURES EARNINGS BY QUANTITY OR QUALITY OF PRODUCTION OR A DIFFERENTIAL BASED ON ANY FACTOR OTHER THAN SEX; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Equal Pay Act."

SECTION 2. (1) No employer, including the state and any of its political subdivisions or public bodies, may pay an employee a wage at a rate less than the rate at which an employee of another sex in the same establishment is paid for equal work on any job, the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, education, experience and responsibility, and which is performed under similar working conditions, except where the payment is made pursuant to any of the following:

(a) A seniority system;

(b) A merit system;

(d) A differential based on any factor other than sex.

(2) Any employer who violates subsection (1) is liable to the employee affected in an amount equal to the wages, and interest thereon, of which the employee is deprived by reason of the violation.

(3) An employee who files a claim against his or her employer for a violation of subsection (1) must plead with particularity in demonstrating the following:

(a) The employee was paid less than someone for equal work despite possessing equal skill, effort, education, experience and responsibility; and

(b) The applicable wage schedule at issue was or is not correlated to any conditions permissible under subsection (1).

(4) If an employee recovers an amount under subsection (2), and also files a complaint or brings an action pursuant to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which results in an additional recovery for the same employer conduct for which recovery was had under subsection (2), the employee shall return to the employer the amount recovered under subsection (2), or the amount recovered under federal law, whichever is less.

(5) A civil action brought under this subsection may be commenced no later than two (2) years from the day the employee knew or should have known his or her employer was in violation of this section.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.