Mississippi employment law overview

Mississippi has laws that provide greater protections to employees than federal law, including health care continuation coverage obligations for smaller employers, but generally follows federal law with respect to topics such as occupational safety. 

Select Mississippi employment requirements are summarized below to help an employer understand the range of employment laws affecting the employer-employee relationship in the state. An employer must comply with federal, state, and local law. Where there is overlap, complying with the law that offers the greatest rights or benefits to the employee will generally apply. 

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and worker protections 

Mississippi employers may be required to comply with requirements related to EEO and worker protections.   

Fair employment practices 

Mississippi law generally prohibits an employer from discriminating against individuals based on characteristics such as: 

• Membership or former membership in covered military service; 
• Expunged criminal records; and 
• Smoking or use of tobacco products during nonwork hours.

Equal pay 

The Mississippi Equal Pay for Equal Work Act prohibits covered employers from paying any full-time employee a wage less than it would pay an employee of the opposite sex in the same establishment for equal work on a job requiring equal skill, education, effort and responsibility and performed under similar working conditions. Employers may, however, base pay differentials on: 

• A seniority system; 
• A merit system; 
• A system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or 
• Any factor other than sex. 

Pay transparency 

Mississippi does not have a pay transparency law applicable to private employers. 

Salary history inquiry restrictions 

Mississippi does not restrict an employer from inquiring into or relying upon an applicant’s salary history. 

Employee wage disclosure rights 

Mississippi does not have a wage disclosure law applicable to private employers. 

Pregnancy accommodation 

Mississippi does not have requirements for private employers related to pregnancy accommodation. 

Breastfeeding breaks 

A Mississippi employer may not prohibit employees from expressing breast milk during any meal period or other break period provided by the employer. In addition, Mississippi prohibits discrimination towards breastfeeding mothers who use lawful break time to express milk. 

Access to personnel files 

Mississippi law does not require private employers to provide employees with access to their personnel files. 

Whistleblower protections 

Mississippi does not have a whistleblower law applicable to private employers. 

Scheduling 

Mississippi does not have a scheduling law applicable to private employers. 

Recruiting and hiring 

Mississippi employers may be required to comply with requirements related to recruiting and hiring.   

Credit checks 

Mississippi does not have requirements for private employers related to credit checks. 

Ban the Box and Fair Chance 

Mississippi does not have a state ban-the-box or fair chance law applicable to private employers. 

E-Verify 

Mississippi’s Employment Protection Act requires all employers to register with and use E-Verify to verify the employment authorization status of all newly hired employees. An employer may only hire employees who are legal US citizens or who are legal aliens. 

Additionally, third-party employers (defined as any person or company that provides workers for another person or company, which includes leasing companies and contract employers) that conduct business in Mississippi are required to provide proof of registration and participation in the E-Verify program to any Mississippi employer with whom they do business. 

Wage and hour 

Mississippi employers may be required to comply with certain wage and hour requirements.   

Minimum wage 

Mississippi does not have a minimum wage law applicable to private employers. 

Overtime 

Mississippi does not have a state overtime law applicable to private employers. 

Meal and rest breaks 

Mississippi does not have a law requiring employers to provide employees with rest periods, breaks or meal periods. 

Child labor 

Child labor laws in Mississippi restrict the occupations in which minors may be employed and the number of hours and times during which they may work. 

Minors under the age of 14 may not work in any mill, cannery (except a fruit or vegetable cannery), workshop, factory or manufacturing establishment in Mississippi. Minors between the ages of 14 and 16 may not work in these facilities: 

• For more than eight hours per day; 
• For more than 44 hours per week; or 
• Between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. 

Pay and benefits 

Mississippi employers may be required to follow certain requirements with respect to employee pay and benefits.

Wage payment methods 

An employer must pay the full amount of wages due to employees in cash, or with checks that can be cashed in full at banks where arrangements have been made for cashing without difficulty. An employer may pay wages by direct deposit or payroll debit cards if certain conditions are met. 

Pay frequency and lag time 

Nonexempt employees must be at least semimonthly, on regular pay days designated in advance. An employer may establish regular paydays that occur less frequently than semimonthly for bona fide executive, supervisory and other special classifications of employees, provided that the employees are paid in full at least monthly. 

Pay deductions 

An employer may make deductions from employees’ wages that are required by federal or state law or that are authorized by the employee (e.g., contributions to benefit plans, payment into their personal savings account, charitable contributions). 

Pay statements 

An employer must furnish each employee with a statement of deductions made from his or her wages for each pay period in which deductions are made. 

Wage theft 

Mississippi does not have a wage theft law applicable to private employers. 

Health care continuation 

Mississippi’s health care continuation law applies to all employers. The law generally requires that continuation coverage be extended to employees and their covered dependents whose coverage terminates for any reason. Unlike federal COBRA, the state law does not disqualify employees terminated for gross misconduct and provides continuation coverage for up to 12 months. 

Temporary disability insurance 

Mississippi does not have requirements for private employers related to temporary disability insurance. 

Time off and leaves of absence 

Mississippi employers may be required to follow certain requirements with respect to time off and leaves of absence.   

Family and medical leave 

Mississippi does not have a state family and medical leave law applicable to private employers. 

Paid sick leave 

Mississippi does not have a state paid sick leave law applicable to private employers. 

Other time off requirements 

Mississippi has laws related to time off and leaves of absence, including but not limited to: 

• Military leave; 
• Jury duty leave; and 
• Crime victim leave. 

Health and safety 

Mississippi employers may be required to follow certain requirements with respect to employee health and safety.   

Occupational safety and health 

Private sector employers in Mississippi fall under the jurisdiction of federal OSHA for compliance and enforcement and must follow the appropriate Code of Federal Regulations that applies to their industry and work practices.

Drug and alcohol testing 

A Mississippi employer may require job applicants to submit to neutral selection drug and alcohol testing as a condition of employment. All information obtained through drug and alcohol testing programs is confidential. 

An employer that chooses to require preemployment drug and alcohol testing must notify the applicants in writing that they may be tested. The notice must be provided upon submission of the application and prior to collection of the test specimen. 

Applicants who submit to a drug test must be given an opportunity to provide relevant information, such as the current or recent use of prescription or nonprescription medication. An employer may not refuse to hire an applicant due to a positive test result that has not been verified by a confirmation test conducted by a laboratory. 

The employer pays the cost of drug and alcohol tests, except job applicants pay the cost of additional testing. 

Smoke-free workplace 

Mississippi does not have a state law regulating smoking in the workplace. 

Weapons in the workplace 

An employer in Mississippi may not prohibit employees from transporting or storing a gun in a locked vehicle in a parking lot, parking garage or other designated parking area, unless the employer restricts public access to the parking area. An employer may prohibit employees from storing guns in a company vehicle. 

Safe driving practices 

Mississippi bans texting and social networking on a hand-held mobile telephone while driving. 

Organizational exit 

Mississippi employers may be required to follow certain requirements when employees exit the organization.   

Final pay 

If an employer’s policy, employment contract or union contract provides for paid vacations and contains no forfeiture provisions, the employer must pay a terminated employee all vested vacation time that was not taken prior to the termination. The vacation time must be paid at the final rate of pay, and regardless of whether the termination is voluntary or involuntary or the result of the employer’s closing. 

An employer may pay all wages due to a deceased employee to individuals in a certain order, beginning with the employee’s spouse. 

Mass layoffs  

Mississippi does not have its own version of the federal WARN Act. 

AI in employment 

Mississippi does not have a law related to AI in employment applicable to private employers.