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Missouri Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave: What Applies Now

Now Hiring St. Louis Editorial TeamUpdated 2026-09-298 min read

Last verified: September 29, 2026. Wage and leave laws are changing quickly in Missouri. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm with the Missouri Division of Labor Standards or the U.S. Wage and Hour Division before acting on a specific pay problem.

Almost two years ago Missouri voters passed Proposition A, which raised the minimum wage and required paid sick leave. Then the legislature rolled part of it back. If you have heard both "Missouri has paid sick leave" and "Missouri repealed it," both are partly true, and that is why this topic causes so many arguments at work. Here is where things stand as of late September 2026.

The short version

Question Answer as of Sept. 29, 2026
State minimum wage $15.00 per hour since January 1, 2026
Automatic yearly inflation increases Repealed by HB 567 (they would have started in 2027)
State-mandated paid sick leave Repealed, effective August 28, 2025
Tipped employee cash wage $7.50 per hour, and the employer must make up the difference to $15
Overtime Federal law: 1.5 times regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek

What happened with Proposition A

Voters approved Proposition A in November 2024 with 58 percent of the vote, according to St. Louis Public Radio. It raised the minimum wage to $13.75 in 2025 and $15 in 2026, tied it to inflation starting in 2027, and required employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, starting May 1, 2025.

In 2025 the legislature passed House Bill 567, and Governor Kehoe signed it on July 10, 2025. The Missouri Department of Labor confirms two changes: the minimum wage is no longer adjusted yearly for inflation, and public employers that used to be exempt now have to follow the state minimum wage law. Law firm Polsinelli's analysis notes that the $15 step scheduled for January 1, 2026 was left in place. The sick leave mandate ended August 28, 2025, and STLPR reports that employees stopped accruing state-mandated sick leave on that date but kept hours already earned.

The minimum wage in 2026

Missouri's minimum wage is $15.00 an hour. Two limits matter:

  • Small retail and service businesses. The Department of Labor says retail or service employers with annual gross income under $500,000 are exempt from the state minimum wage and may set their own wage rates. Federal law may still apply to them.
  • Federal law can override. The state says employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must follow whichever law is more protective of the worker.

Because the state figure is set by law, and because there are no more automatic yearly increases, do not assume the wage will rise on January 1, 2027. Check labor.mo.gov each year.

A note on cities

We did not verify whether any local government in the St. Louis area has a separate minimum wage rule, so check with your city or county if your pay looks off.

Paid sick leave: what you have and do not have

Since August 28, 2025, Missouri law no longer requires private employers to give paid sick time. That does not mean you have none:

  • Your employer's own policy still counts. Many employers, including large ones, offer paid time off or sick pay on their own. Read your handbook and offer letter. Some employers kept the Proposition A policy after the repeal, and Polsinelli notes that employers had a choice between rolling changes back or keeping them.
  • Hours earned before the repeal. STLPR reports employees kept the hours already accrued. Ask HR in writing whether your balance was honored.
  • Federal leave laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act cover unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible workers at larger employers. We did not review the details for this article, so check with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Will paid sick leave come back?

Not on the November 2026 ballot, as far as we can confirm. Missouri Jobs with Justice filed a proposed constitutional amendment (Initiative Petition 2026-047) to bring paid sick leave and a $15 minimum wage with inflation increases back, and Ballotpedia lists it as a proposal. The signature deadline was May 3, 2026, and Ballotpedia News reported that Respect MO Voters was the only campaign to submit signatures for an initiative for the 2026 ballot. We did not find a source showing the sick leave petition was submitted or certified, so do not expect to vote on it this November. Check the Missouri Secretary of State for the official list of measures.

There is a related measure. Amendment 6 (from Respect MO Voters) is on the November 3, 2026 ballot. According to Ballotpedia, it would bar the legislature from changing a voter-approved initiative unless each chamber votes with an 80 percent majority to refer the change to voters. It does not restore sick leave or change the current minimum wage law. It would only limit how easily lawmakers could repeal future citizen-initiated laws.

Tipped workers

The Division of Labor Standards says tipped employees must be paid half of the state minimum wage, or $7.50 an hour. If tips do not bring you to the full minimum wage, the employer must pay the difference so you earn $15.00 an hour. For comparison, the federal rules allow a lower cash wage of $2.13 an hour against a $7.25 federal minimum, but Missouri's higher state figure applies to covered employers, and the rule more protective of the worker controls.

Practical ways to check:

  1. Look at your pay stub for the cash wage. If it shows less than $7.50 an hour, ask why.
  2. Track your tips daily, including cash. Write them in a notebook or phone note.
  3. At the end of the pay period, add cash wages and tips, and divide by hours worked. If the result is under $15, the employer owes the difference.
  4. Ask whether the restaurant has a tip pool and how it works. We did not verify Missouri's tip pooling rules for this article, so ask the Division of Labor Standards.

Overtime basics

Overtime in Missouri is mostly governed by federal law. The U.S. Department of Labor says covered employees must be paid at least one and one-half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Some specifics:

  • A workweek is any fixed, recurring 168-hour period (seven consecutive days). It does not have to match the calendar week.
  • Weekend or holiday work does not require overtime on its own, unless it pushes you over 40 hours.
  • There is no federal limit on weekly hours for workers 16 and over.
  • Executive, administrative and professional employees can be exempt if they meet pay and duty tests. A "manager" title alone does not make someone exempt. If you are salaried, do not assume you cannot get overtime, and ask the U.S. Wage and Hour Division.

Warehouse workers, home health aides, restaurant staff and retail workers in St. Louis often see problems like unpaid pre-shift time, skipped breaks that are clocked out anyway, or hours split between two paychecks to avoid the 40-hour line. Keep your own record of the hours you work.

Keep records before you complain

You will have a stronger case if you have:

  • Pay stubs, or a photo of every one
  • A schedule or timecard screenshots
  • Your own log of start time, end time and any breaks
  • Your offer letter, handbook and texts about pay
  • Names of coworkers who saw the same thing

How to file a wage complaint

You have two main routes:

State: Missouri Division of Labor Standards. Use the online Minimum Wage Complaint Form on the Department of Labor site, call 573-751-3403, or email minimumwage@labor.mo.gov. The division says it will investigate for compliance with the Minimum Wage Law, but it is not authorized to pursue your wage claim in court. Anything above the state minimum (for example, a higher promised rate) may require a private legal action.

Federal: U.S. Wage and Hour Division. Call 1-866-487-9243 to report minimum wage or overtime problems, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The state complaint pages we read list no filing deadline. Separately, Missouri's wage statute (RSMo 290.527) says actions to collect a wage deficiency must be commenced within three years of when the claim accrued. We did not verify retaliation protections, so ask the agency about them. Do not wait months. If you are afraid to complain because you might lose your job, tell the agency at the start, and consider talking to a legal aid office or an employment attorney.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Assuming a small employer is exempt without checking gross income and federal coverage.
  • Signing a document saying you were paid in full when you were not.
  • Relying on verbal promises about sick time. Get it in writing.
  • Not counting tips correctly, or letting a manager keep the record for you.
  • Waiting until you quit to raise the issue. Records are easier to collect while you still work there.

FAQ

Is Missouri's minimum wage $15 for everyone? Most covered employers, yes. Small retail and service businesses under $500,000 in annual gross income are exempt from the state law. Federal law can still apply.

Can my employer deny me sick days? State law no longer requires paid sick days. Your employer may still owe you what its own policy or contract says.

Will the minimum wage go up in 2027? Not automatically. HB 567 removed the inflation adjustment. A new law or a future ballot measure could change that, so check labor.mo.gov in January.

I was paid under $15 as a server. Is that illegal? Not if the cash wage is at least $7.50 and tips bring your total to $15 an hour. If not, the employer owes the difference.

Do I need a lawyer to file a complaint? No. Filing with the state or federal agency is free of charge for you to start, as far as the pages we reviewed show, but consider legal help if your case is complicated.

Sources

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