Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves recently signed a new equal pay law into effect in an effort to reduce the wage gap between men and women in the state. The “Equal Pay for Equal Work Act,” signed on April 20 and taking effect on July 1, 2022, faced heavy criticism from some workers’ advocacy groups, but Governor Reeves and other state officials believe the new law is a leap forward by aligning state law with the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963. What do Mississippi employers need to know about this new standard – and what should you to do to prepare?

How the New Mississippi Law Aligns with Federal Law

Mississippi’s pay equity law will soon line up with federal law by prohibiting employers from paying a different wage rate to men and women who perform substantially equal work, the performance of which requires equal skill, education, effort, and responsibility, and which is performed under similar working conditions. Both laws have exceptions from the requirement of equal pay if the pay is based on a seniority system, a merit system, a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, and for “any other factor than sex.”

How the New Mississippi Law Differs from Federal Law

However, the Mississippi law contains some significant differences from the federal law:

1. The Mississippi law defines an “employee” as someone who is employed to work 40 or more hours per week, whereas federal law imposes no such requirement.
2. The Mississippi law defines an “employer” as...

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