Adopted
SUBSTITUTE NO 1 FOR AMENDMENT NO 1 PROPOSED TO
House Bill No. 1241
BY: Representative Baker
AMEND after line 130 by inserting the following new section and renumbering the succeeding section.
SECTION 3. (1) (a) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 USC Section 206(d), except as to those exemptions set forth in 29 USC Section 213 shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex: Provided, that an employer who is paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any employee.
(b) No labor organization, or its agents, representing employees of an employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall cause or attempt to cause such an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(c) For purposes of administration and enforcement, any amounts owing to any employee which have been withheld in violation of this subsection shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation.
(d) As used in this subsection (1), the term "labor organization" means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section creates an actionable right in Mississippi for any person who is an employee and who believes that such person's employer has violated the provisions of subsection (1) of this section. Any employee who is aggrieved under subsection (1) of this section may file a complaint in the circuit court in Mississippi having jurisdiction in accordance with Sections 11-11-1 et seq.
Subject to the provisions herein, if an employer is found to have violated the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the employee shall be entitled to seek remedies, damages, attorney's fees and costs, as provided by federal law for such violations, including but not limited to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 42 USC Section 1981, 42 USC Section 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, as applicable.
(3) Claims asserted against a governmental entity by a public employee under subsection (1) of this section, shall be subject to the provisions of the Mississippi Tort Claims Act as provided in Sections 11-46-1 et seq.