MS HB1281

Prohibits employers in commerce from paying employees of one sex less than employees of the opposite sex for equal work requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions.

Allows wage differentials based on seniority systems, merit systems, production quality/quantity systems, or bona fide non-sex factors that are job-related and necessary for business.

Employers cannot reduce existing wages to comply; employers conducting self-evaluations within two years and making reasonable progress toward eliminating wage differentials receive a rebuttable presumption of compliance.

Prohibits employers from requiring employees to refrain from discussing wages, requiring wage disclosure waivers, or retaliating against employees who discuss or disclose wages or file complaints under the act.

Employees may file civil actions within two years of discriminatory compensation practices; successful plaintiffs may recover unpaid wages, liquidated damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages for malice or reckless indifference, and attorney's fees.