Human Resource Blog

Mississippi State vs. Federal Law

I’m confused on which takes precedence in

Mississippi, state or federal law. I know the state law applies sometimes, and not at others, but why?

Priority is given to the law that provides better benefits to the worker, regardless of whether that law is state or federal. This rule of thumb applies when both state and federal labor laws cover a worker. Typically, that happens when a business sells its products across state lines.

In some cases, for example, the federal minimum wage law will prevail over the state law if the federal minimum wage is greater. In cases where the state minimum wage law is more generous, then state law has preference.

Let’s say a Washington state business sells products across state lines. The

Washington minimum wage is $7.93 an hour. The federal law is $5.85 per hour. At this business, the workers would be entitled to the

Washington rate of $7.93 because it is more generous.

Kansas state minimum wage law guarantees only $2.65 an hour. A

Kansas business selling across state lines is bound by the federal minimum wage rate of $5.85 an hour because it is the better of the two.

Sometimes, for the same employer, federal law may apply in one case and state law in another. Take this example of family leave in Hawaii.

Hawaii’s own family leave law guarantees up to 4 weeks of unpaid leave to take care of a seriously ill relative, whether parent, child, or in-law. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides up to 12 weeks for family care. But the care of in-laws is not included in federal law.

So if a Hawaii employee needed time off to take care of an in-law, that worker would be covered by Hawaii law, and would receive up to 4 weeks of leave. That’s more generous than the federal law, which would provide no leave.

But if the same worker needed leave to care for a child or parent, federal law would prevail. Since both Hawaii and federal laws guarantee leave under those conditions, the one providing more time takes precedence. Federal law provides 12 weeks compared to

Hawaii’s 4, so federal law has priority. JH