Mississippi will become the last US state to pass equal pay for men and women.
Republican Governor Tate Reeves on Wednesday signed the measure, which will go into effect on July 1.
Federal authorities approved in 1963 the law that establishes equal pay for equal work, but Mississippi was the only state left without its own law since Alabama approved its own in 2019.
Under the law, a worker has two years to file a lawsuit if he detects an inappropriate discrepancy in wage compensation between men and women.
If the lawsuit is successful, the employer will have to raise the salary of the lowest-paid person instead of lowering the salary of the highest-paid person, said Angela Cockerham, the lawmaker who sponsored the measure.
Under the law, every firm with at least five employees must pay equal pay to men and women who work full-time in positions that require equal “talent, education, effort, and responsibility” and are performed “under similar working conditions.”
There are exceptions, such as veteran status, merit, quantity or quality of work, or “any factor other than gender,” including past pay or competition in hiring.
A 2017 study by the University of Mississippi Research Unit showed that women earn 27% less than men in Mississippi, compared to a national average of 19%. The study says part of the cause may be because men and women work different jobs, but the unexplained gap stands at 18% in Mississippi and 15% nationally.
