Missouri Passes Proposition A

What Contractors Need to Know: Missouri Proposition A

Missouri Mandates Paid Sick Leave

In November 2024, Missouri voters passed Proposition A, which requires implementation of paid sick leave requirements effective on May 1, 2025 and an increase in minimum wage effective January 1, 2025. Proposition A applies to most private employers and applies to most employees, including full and part-time employees, with limited exceptions. 

Missouri Paid Sick Leave. Proposition A mandates that employers provide paid sick leave, allowing employees to take time off for certain eligibility conditions. While Proposition A allows for employers to use existing paid time off (“PTO”) policies to satisfy Proposition A’s “sick leave days,” employers must ensure that their existing PTO policy or newly implemented sick leave policy complies with the minimum requirements of Proposition A, as set forth below.  

• Accrual Rates and Usage Caps. Employers can either front-load sick leave, providing employees with their full annual leave at the start of the year or use an accrual system where leave is earned over time. The amount of accrual depends on the number of employees. Employers with 15 or more employees must allow employees to accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with a corresponding usage cap of 56 hours per year (unless the employer opts for a higher limit). Employers with 14 or fewer must allow employees also accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, but these employees have a usage cap of 40 hours per year (unless the employer opts for a higher limit). Full-time employees who are exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act are assumed to work 40 hours in a work week for accrual calculations. 

• Uses. Employees can use their sick leave for the following reasons: (1) personal or family health needs, including illnesses, injuries, medical treatments, diagnoses, and preventative care; (2) public health emergencies, such as the closure of an employee’s workplace or the closure of a child’s school or place of care; and (3) purposes related to domestic violence, including addressing the issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, as well as associated medical treatment or services. When using their sick leave, employees must be allowed to take full days off or use the time in hourly increments. 

• Carryover and Payout. Employers will have the option to allow employees to carry over their accrued, unused sick leave or receive a payout for the remaining balance from year-to-year. Employers must permit their employees to carry over up to 80 hours of accrued, unused sick leave from one year to the next. Despite allowing carry over, an employer can still maintain the corresponding usage cap of 56 hours for large employers and 40 hours for small employers. Rather than allowing employees to carry over up to 80 hours of accrued, unused sick leave, an employer can also elect to pay out accrued, unused sick leave at the same hourly rate that the employee is otherwise paid. An employer is not required to payout unused earned paid sick time upon termination of employment. 

Minimum Wage. Proposition A outlines a gradual increase in Missouri’s minimum wage over the next two years. Beginning January 1, 2025, Proposition A requires employers to pay Missouri employees a minimum wage of $13.75 per hour. On January 1, 2026, the minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour. Then, on January 1, 2027, the minimum wage will either increase or decrease year after year based on the cost of living. 

​​More concrete guidelines are still to come, as the law does not exist yet in its most complete form. The Missouri Department of Labor is tasked with clarifying certain issues the law does address and fill in gaps through formal rulemaking where the law falls silent. We recommend that any members with questions regarding implementation or compliance contact an employment lawyer.