Mississippi Equal Pay for Equal Work Act; revise certain provisions related to wage history.

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To: Business and Commerce;
Judiciary A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Summers

HOUSE BILL NO. 594

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 71-17-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
DEFINE THE TERM "WAGE HISTORY"; TO AMEND SECTION 71-17-5, 2
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE HOW A PERSON'S WAGE HISTORY 3
MAY AND MAY NOT BE USED WHILE THAT PERSON IS AN APPLICANT FOR 4
EMPLOYMENT; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR THOSE EMPLOYERS WHO VIOLATE 5
THE PROVISIONS RELATED TO WAGE HISTORY; TO AMEND SECTION 71-17-7, 6
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN PRECEDENTS SHALL 7
BE CONSIDERED MANDATORY AUTHORITY FOR CLAIMS BROUGHT AS A RESULT 8
OF VIOLATIONS OF THE PROVISIONS RELATED TO WAGE HISTORY; AND FOR 9
RELATED PURPOSES. 10
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 11
SECTION 1. Section 71-17-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 12
amended as follows: 13
71-17-3. For the purposes of this chapter, the following 14
words and phrases shall have the meanings as defined in this 15
section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: 16
(a) "Employee" means any individual who is employed to 17
work forty (40) or more hours a week and who is employed by an 18
employer, including individuals employed by the state or any of 19
its political subdivisions or instrumentalities of subdivisions. 20
(b) "Employer" means any person who employs five (5) or 21
more employees. 22
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(c) "Wage" means and includes all compensation paid by 23
an employer or his or her agent for the performance of service by 24
an employee, including the cash value of all compensation paid in 25
any medium other than cash. 26
(d) "Rate" with reference to wages means the basis of 27
compensation for services by an employee for an employer and 28
includes compensation based on time spent in the performance of 29
such services, on the number of operations accomplished, or on the 30
quality produced or handled. 31
(e) "Unpaid wages" means the difference between the 32
wages actually paid to an employee and the wages required to be 33
paid to an employee as provided in this chapter. 34
(f) "Skill" means and shall be measured by factors such 35
as experience, ability, education and training that are required 36
to perform a job. 37
(g) "Effort" means the amount of physical or mental 38
exertion needed to perform a job. 39
(h) "Responsibility" means the degree of accountability 40
required to perform the job. 41
(i) "Working Conditions" means and includes the 42
following two (2) factors: 43
(i) The physical surroundings of a job including, 44
but not limited to, temperature, fumes and ventilation; and 45
(ii) The hazards of the job. 46
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(j) "Wage history" means the wages paid to an applicant 47
for employment by the applicant's current employer and all 48
previous employers. 49
SECTION 2. Section 71-17-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 50
amended as follows: 51
71-17-5. (1) No employer may pay an employee a wage at a 52
rate less than the rate at which an employee of the opposite sex 53
in the same establishment is paid for equal work on a job, the 54
performance of which requires equal skill, education, effort and 55
responsibility, and which is performed under similar working 56
conditions, except where payment is made pursuant to differential 57
based on: 58
(a) A seniority system; 59
(b) A merit system; 60
(c) A system which measures earnings by quantity or 61
quality of production; or 62
(d) Any other factor other than sex. "Any other factor 63
other than sex" shall include, but not be limited to, the 64
following factors: 65
* * * 66
( * * *i) The extent to which there was 67
competition with other employers for the employee's services as 68
compared to employees of the opposite sex in the same 69
establishment; and 70
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( * * *ii) The extent to which the employee 71
attempted to negotiate for higher wages as compared to employees 72
of the opposite sex in the same establishment. 73
(2) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, an 74
employer may not: 75
(i) Rely on the wage history of an applicant for 76
employment in considering the applicant for employment. 77
(ii) Rely on the wage history of an applicant for 78
employment in determining the wages the applicant is to be paid by 79
the employer upon hire; or 80
(iii) Seek the wage history of an applicant. 81
(b) After an employer makes an initial offer of 82
employment with an offer of compensation to an applicant for 83
employment, an employer may: 84
(i) Rely on wage history to support a wage higher 85
than the wage offered by the employer, if wage history is provided 86
voluntarily by the applicant for employment without prompting from 87
the employer; and 88
(ii) Seek to confirm the wage history of the 89
applicant for employment to support a wage higher than the wage 90
offered by the employer when relying on wage history as permitted 91
in this paragraph. 92
(c) An employer may rely on wage history as permitted 93
in this subsection to the extent that the higher wage does not 94
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create an unlawful pay differential based on sex as provided in 95
federal law and this chapter. 96
( * * *3) (a) The provisions of this chapter may be 97
enforced by private action in a civil suit in the circuit court in 98
the county in Mississippi where the cause of action occurred 99
pursuant to the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. 100
(b) If an employer is found to have violated the 101
provisions of subsection (1) or (2) of this section, the employee 102
shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees, prejudgment interest, 103
back pay and costs of the action. 104
(c) If an employer is found to have violated the 105
provisions of subsection (2) of this section, the employee shall 106
be awarded statutory damages not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars 107
($10,000.00) and shall be subject to such injunctive relief as may 108
be appropriate. 109
( * * *4) An employer who is paying a wage differential in 110
violation of this chapter shall not, in order to comply with this 111
chapter, reduce the wage rate of any employee. 112
( * * *5) No employer may discharge, discriminate or in any 113
way retaliate against any employee by reason of any action taken 114
by the employee to invoke or assist in any manner the enforcement 115
of this chapter, including an employee or applicant's refusal to 116
provide wage history. 117
SECTION 3. Section 71-17-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 118
amended as follows: 119
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71-17-7. (1) A civil action brought under this chapter may 120
be commenced no later than two (2) years from the day the employee 121
knew or should have known his or her employer was in violation of 122
this chapter. 123
(2) If an employee brings a claim under the Equal Pay Act of 124
1963, a separate action may not be maintained under this chapter. 125
If an employee brings a claim under this chapter, then later 126
initiates a claim under the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the action 127
brought under this chapter shall be dismissed with prejudice. An 128
employee who seeks relief under this chapter must first waive any 129
right to relief under the Equal Pay Act of 1963. 130
(3) (a) For any action under this chapter, published 131
precedents of the United States Supreme Court, the United States 132
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and federal district courts 133
embracing the circuit court in which any action under this chapter 134
is pending, deciding cases under the Equal Pay Act of 1963, after 135
which this chapter is patterned, shall be considered mandatory 136
authority and shall be followed by the circuit court in which the 137
action is pending, until there is a contrary ruling interpreting 138
this chapter by the Mississippi Supreme Court or the Mississippi 139
Court of Appeals. 140
(b) If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase 141
or any part of this chapter passed is declared to be 142
unconstitutional or void, or if for any reason is declared to be 143
invalid or of no effect, the remaining sections, paragraphs, 144
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ST: Mississippi Equal Pay for Equal Work Act;
revise certain provisions related to wage
history.
sentences, clauses, phrases or parts thereof shall be in no manner 145
affected thereby but shall remain in full force and effect. 146
(c) This subsection (3) does not apply to claims 147
brought under Section 71-17-5(2). 148
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 149
and after July 1, 2026. 150