December 16, 2024

Although not traditionally known for its progressive employment laws, Missouri is poised to buck that trend. In November 2024, Missouri voters approved Proposition A, bringing substantial changes to the state's employment laws by mandating paid sick leave for most employees beginning on May 1, 2025, and implementing a phased increase in the state's minimum wage beginning on January 1, 2025. Employers with Missouri-based employees should take steps now to comply with these changes, but also closely monitor the status of laws due to pending legal challenges and the potential for changes by the Missouri legislature.

Covered Employers and Employees

With certain exceptions, Proposition A applies to most employers that employ individuals in Missouri. Most public-sector employers, including municipalities and school districts, are excluded from the paid sick leave provision of Proposition A. Additionally, the paid sick leave law does not apply to employees covered by existing collective bargaining agreements until those agreements are renewed or modified. For all other private-sector employers, however, the law may require significant changes and adjustments.

Accrual & Carryover of Paid Sick Time

Beginning May 1, 2025, employees will begin to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Overtime-exempt employees will be presumed to work 40 hours per week for accrual purposes. An employer retains discretion on whether to implement a system where paid sick leave is accrued over the course of the year or front-loaded in full at the beginning of the year.

Although there is no limit on how much paid sick leave employees can accrue, employers may restrict annual use of leave to 56 hours (or 40 hours for employers with fewer than 15 employees). Additionally, employees may carry over up to 80 hours of unused paid sick leave to the following year. Alternatively, employers can choose to pay out any unused sick leave at the end of the year instead of allowing it to carry over, provided they frontload the expected annual sick leave to employees at the beginning of the new year. This proviso exists so employers cannot unilaterally "cash out" employees of their accrued sick leave and require them to wait significant portions of the next year to replenish their accrued leave.

Qualifying Reasons for Use of Paid Sick Time

Employees can utilize their paid sick leave for a range of qualifying reasons, including:

• for their own physical or mental illness, injury, or health condition;
• to care for a family member experiencing similar mental or physical health issues;
• to remain at home during public-health emergencies that lead to business closures;
• to care for a child whose school or care facility has closed due to public-health emergency; and
• to address domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Indeed, despite its title, paid sick leave may be used even when an employee is not sick or injured: leave may be used for preventive health care, whether for an employee or an employee's family member.

Sick leave may be taken in the smallest increment tracked by the employer's payroll system, and employees generally must be paid their regular hourly rate during such time off.

Lastly, accrued but unused sick leave does not need to be paid out upon an employee's separation from the company.

Employee Notice Requirement

The requirement for employees to provide notice of their intention to take sick leave depends on whether the need for leave is foreseeable. When the leave is foreseeable, employees are expected to make a good-faith effort to provide advance notice. If the leave is unforeseeable, employers may require notice to be given as soon as practicable. However, employers can only enforce this requirement if they have a written policy in place that clearly outlines the procedure for providing such notice.

Employer Responsibilities and Compliance

To comply with the new paid sick leave law, employers must:

• Provide Written Notice by April 15, 2025: Employers must notify employees in writing about their paid sick leave rights by April 15, 2025, or within 14 days of hire for new employees. The notice must include information on how employees will accrue paid sick leave, their right to use it, and protections against retaliation.
• Display Posters: Starting April 15, 2025, employers must display a poster summarizing employees' rights under the paid sick leave law in the workplace.
• Maintain Records: Employers must create and retain records of hours worked and paid leave taken by each employee for at least three years.
• Limit Requests to Reasonable Documentation: Employers are permitted to request documentation from employees only for absences lasting three or more consecutive days. Such documentation need only confirm that the time off was necessary and for a covered purpose. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, employers cannot request that documentation of the need for leave explain "the nature of the illness, details of the underlying health needs, or the details of the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking."

Current Paid Time Off Policies

Many employers likely already have existing paid sick leave policies or broad paid-time off or vacation policies. Employers may continue using those policies to satisfy the new paid sick leave requirements, but only if the policy offers sufficient leave to meet the accrual standards set by the law and allows employees to use the leave for the same purposes and under the same conditions specified in Proposition A.

Due to the May 1, 2025 effective date, one wrinkle seems to be present with respect to existing paid sick leave policies that front-load leave on January 1. It is unclear whether employers with an existing policy that frontloads sick leave on January 1, 2025, for example, would be in compliance with Proposition A if, by May 1, an employee happened to deplete their sick leave to an amount less the amount the employee would accrue for the remainder of the year, i.e., approximately 46.667 hours. Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend employers with existing frontloading policies that reload on January 1 ensure each employee has at least six days (or 48 hours) of sick leave remaining by May 1, 2025. This guidance applies only for 2025, given the complexities surrounding the May 1, 2025 effective date.

Penalties for Noncompliance

Noncompliance with the new paid sick leave law can result in significant penalties. Employers may be liable for unpaid paid sick leave, actual damages, liquidated damages, attorney's fees, and other legal remedies. Willful violations may result in fines of up to $500 per day for each day of noncompliance, as well as criminal charges. Retaliatory actions against employees who use paid sick leave or penalizing employees for taking paid sick leave are prohibited.

Minimum Wage Increases

In addition to the paid sick leave law, Proposition A also includes a phased increase in Missouri's minimum wage:

• January 1, 2025: $13.75 per hour
• January 1, 2026: $15.00 per hour

Existing Uncertainty Surrounding Proposition A

While employers should begin preparing to comply with Proposition A, they should also closely monitor developments with Proposition A for two reasons. First, because Proposition A is a statutory amendment and not a constitutional amendment, the Missouri legislature retains authority to repeal or replace Proposition A. The Missouri legislature has taken such action in the past with other voter-enacted legislation. It remains to be seen whether it occurs with respect to Proposition A.

Second, Proposition A is the subject of a recent legal challenge. On December 6, 2024, several Missouri business groups filed suit claiming that "election irregularities and the constitution violations are so significant that the [November] election results must be overturned and Proposition A must be declared invalid." This is something for Missouri employers to keep a watchful eye on, but we recommend in the meantime that employers should be prepared to comply with the law in the event the suit is unsuccessful.