House Bill 819 Summary

• Establishes state minimum wage of $15.00 per hour for most employees, with tipped employees exempt and required to receive minimum of $3.62 per hour.

• Requires equal pay for equal work regardless of sex, prohibiting wage discrimination based on gender for jobs requiring equal skill, effort, responsibility, and similar working conditions; employees can sue in circuit court for violations with remedies including attorney's fees, back pay, liquidated damages, and 100-300% of unpaid wage differences.

• Creates Mississippi Community College for Single Mothers Scholarship Grant (up to $7,500 for tuition and child care) and Mississippi IHL for Single Mothers Scholarship Grant (up to $15,000 for tuition and child care).

• Expands sex education curriculum requirements to include medically accurate comprehensive instruction on healthy decision-making, healthcare access, and legal resources for victims of sexual assault, while maintaining abstinence-only as the state standard.

• Establishes overtime pay requirements at 1.5 times regular rate for employees earning $455 or less per week and specifically includes manual laborers, law enforcement, and certain other workers as non-exempt from overtime.