Mississippi set to become final state with equal pay law

Mississippi will become the last state with a law requiring equivalent pay for equal work by females and menBy EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated PressApril 24, 2022, 1:04 PM – 2 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleJACKSON, Miss.– Mississippi will become the last state with a law needing equal pay for equal work by women and men.Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 770 on Wednesday, and it will end up being law July 1. The Mississippi law states a claim must be submitted within 2 years of when an employee “knew or need to have understood” about pay discrepancies.If the pay discrimination suit is successful, the employer would have to increase earnings of the lower-paid employee rather than decrease earnings of the higher-paid one, said House Judiciary A Committee Chairwoman Angela Cockerham, an independent from Magnolia who pressed for the legislation.The law states organizations with at least 5 employees need to pay equal wages to males and females who work full-time tasks that require “equal ability, effort, education and duty” and that are done “under similar working conditions.