Mississippi pay transparency law: no range rule, and an equal pay act that lets salary history count (2026)

Mississippi has no law that requires employers to put a pay range in a job posting or to give one to applicants, as of November 2026. Its pay law points the other way. The Mississippi Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (House Bill 770, in force since July 1, 2022) bars unequal pay by sex at employers with five or more employees, and it lists the employee's salary history, competition for the employee's services and the employee's own pay negotiation as lawful reasons for a difference. Two 2026 bills that would have changed that, House Bill 594 and Senate Bill 2137, died in committee on February 3, 2026. For Mississippi employers the posting question turns on other states' laws, not Mississippi's.

Does Mississippi require salary ranges in job postings?

No. Title 71 of the Mississippi Code, the labor title, has no posting, on-request or after-interview disclosure rule, and the 2022 Equal Pay Act adds none. A Jackson, Gulfport or Tupelo employer may post without a range and may ask what a candidate earns now, as far as state law goes. Mississippi's other hiring rules, including new hire reporting and E-Verify, are in our guide to hiring employees in Mississippi.

What does Mississippi's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act say?

The act is compiled at Mississippi Code sections 71-17-1 and following. Its main rule and its defenses, from the enrolled text:

Why does that salary history defense matter to recruiters?

Because it changes what a Mississippi pay decision can rest on, but only under state law. In a claim under the state act, an employer can point to a candidate's prior pay, a competing offer or the candidate's own negotiation to explain why two people of different sexes doing equal work are paid differently. A claimant does not have to use the state act, though. The act itself contemplates claims under the federal Equal Pay Act, and the Mississippi list of factors does not decide a federal claim. The EEOC's equal pay page says the federal law covers virtually all employers and requires equal pay for jobs that are "substantially equal," judged by job content rather than title.

The practical rule for a Mississippi desk: asking about current pay is lawful, but an offer that rests on prior pay alone is the weakest one to defend. Write down the job-related reasons as well, such as experience, certifications, shift or market data, and ask candidates about expectations as a habit, since many of the states you also recruit in bar the history question. The current list is on salary history ban states, and phrasing that works everywhere is in salary expectation questions.

Did Mississippi try to change the law in 2025 or 2026?

Three bills tried, and all three died in committee. None would have required pay ranges in job postings.

• House Bill 716 (2025), by Representative Summers, would have defined "wage history" and set out "how a person's wage history may and may not be used while that person is an applicant for employment," with penalties. It was referred to Judiciary A on January 15, 2025 and died in committee on February 4, 2025.
• House Bill 594 (2026) repeated that wage history proposal. It was referred to Business and Commerce and Judiciary A on January 13, 2026 and died in committee on February 3, 2026.
• Senate Bill 2137 (2026), the "Mississippi Equal Pay for Equal Work Reform Act," by Senator Blackmon, would have widened the act beyond sex to other protected characteristics, allowed punitive damages, given the Mississippi Department of Employment Security enforcement powers, and barred retaliation against employees "for discussing or disclosing his or her wages for the purpose of identifying wage disparities." It was referred to Judiciary, Division A on January 13, 2026 and died in committee on February 3, 2026.

Can Mississippi employees discuss their pay?

No Mississippi statute protects it; SB 2137 would have added that protection and did not pass. Federal law fills the gap for most private-sector employees: the NLRB lists "talking with one or more co-workers about your wages and benefits or other working conditions" as protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act. A handbook rule that forbids pay talk is a federal risk even in Mississippi.

Can Jackson or another Mississippi city require pay ranges?

We found no Mississippi city or county ordinance that requires private employers to post ranges. State law already limits local pay rules: House Bill 141 of 2013, compiled as Mississippi Code section 17-1-51, says no county or municipality may establish "a mandatory, minimum living wage rate, minimum number of vacation or sick days, whether paid or unpaid, that would regulate how a private employer pays its employees." It does not mention pay disclosure, so it has not been tested against a posting rule.

Which other states' laws reach a Mississippi job posting?

Louisiana has no private-employer range rule either (see our Louisiana guide), and our Tennessee guide covers the neighbor to the north. The laws that reach Mississippi postings belong to states where remote hires may live:

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment says an employer with no Colorado employees when it decides is not covered for that decision, even if it hires someone who will work in Colorado; with one Colorado employee, remote postings are covered even if they say Coloradans will not be considered. California, Illinois and New York use their own tests, compared on pay transparency for remote jobs.

Do federal rules require pay ranges?

No. The federal contractor pay transparency rule, 41 CFR 60-1.35, only protected pay discussions, and it is gone: Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246 on January 21, 2025, and the Department of Labor's final rule removed the order's regulations, including part 60-1, effective October 26, 2026 (91 FR 54444). See job posting requirements for federal contractors for what contractors still post. The Equal Pay Act, Title VII and the NLRA all still apply.

What should Mississippi recruiters and staffing agencies do?

1. Settle the work location first. A Hattiesburg role filled on site needs no range under any law above. A remote role open nationally may need one in Colorado or Washington.
2. Ask about expectations, not history, on multistate desks, and keep any history a candidate volunteers out of the offer rationale unless other job-related reasons support the same number.
3. Document the offer. One line per offer naming the factors used is what an equal pay claim, state or federal, will ask for.
4. Agencies: get the client's range at intake, even for Mississippi-only roles, so you can answer the candidate who asks. Mississippi agency rules are in staffing agency licensing in Mississippi, and posting duties when you recruit for a client are in pay transparency for staffing agencies.
5. Drop pay-secrecy clauses from handbooks and offer letters.

Example wording (example figures): "The range for this role is $21 to $25 an hour depending on certifications and shift. Does that fit what you are looking for?" For building the range itself, see how to set salary ranges for job postings.

Mississippi at a glance

More Mississippi rules: ban the box in Mississippi, Mississippi background check laws, employer of record in Mississippi and E-Verify in Mississippi. For every state's rule, see pay transparency laws by state.