By Katherine M. Flett
In November 2024, Missouri voters approved Proposition A, which provided increases to Missouri’s minimum wage and requires most private employers (even most small businesses!) to provide paid sick leave to employees (with very limited exceptions such as employees of businesses whose annual gross volume sales is less than $500,000, casual babysitters, and golf caddies), beginning on May 1, 2025. The law requires covered employers to pay employees sick leave which accrues at one hour per every 30 hours worked up to 40 hours per year if the employer has fewer than 15 employees or up to 56 hours per year if the employer has 15 or more employees.
There is a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new law, which is still under review by Missouri Supreme Court. In addition, House Bill 567, which was passed by the Missouri House of Representatives, but is under review by the Senate, seeks to repeal the paid sick time altogether. However, the current bill does not contain an emergency clause, so if it passes as is, it will not go into effect until August 28, 2025, which is after the paid sick leave law goes into effect on May 1, 2025.
The deadline of April 15, 2025, when all Missouri employers subject to this new law must provide written notice to their employees about the paid sick leave benefits and display a poster about the same, is quickly approaching. Links to language for the written notice and the poster can be found here:
Notice: https://labor.mo.gov/media/pdf/earned-paid-sick-time-notice-ls-122
Poster: https://labor.mo.gov/media/pdf/earned-paid-sick-time-ls-121
What Should Employers Do?
Absent a ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court invalidating the new law, covered Missouri employers should give the required notice and post the required poster on April 15, 2025 (not before).
The written notice (language in the link above) must be provided to employees on a single piece of 8.5 x 11 paper in no less than 14-point font. Considering the requirement references that the notice must be given on a single piece of paper, it is recommended that each employee be provided with a physical copy of the notice, rather than electronic copy of the notice via e-mail.
The required poster (see link above) should be displayed in the same location that the employer’s other employment posters (workers’ compensation, minimum wage, employment discrimination, etc.) are located.
Between now and May 1, 2025, covered employers should plan with their internal teams and payroll providers as to how they will account for their employees’ accrued paid sick leave. They should also review their current PTO policies and work with an employment law attorney, such as the attorneys at Danna McKitrick, to discuss how the new law will affect their current policies if the new law does go into effect on May 1, 2025.
FAQs About Missouri’s New Paid Sick Leave Law
Q1. What can earned paid sick time be used for under the new Missouri law?
A1. Earned Paid Sick Time can be used for:
An employee’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
An employee’s need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
An employee’s need for preventative medical care
Care of a family member with any of the above
Closure of the employee’s place of business by order of a public official due to a public health emergency or an employee’s need to care for a child whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency
Care for oneself or a family member when it has been determined by a health care provider that the employee’s or family member’s presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others because of his or her exposure of a communicable disease
Absence necessary due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (for medical attention, services from victim services organization, counseling, relocation, or legal services)
Q2. How do employees earn paid sick leave?
A2. All covered employees accrue one hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. The hours do not need to be consecutive or worked in a week. Part-time employees also accrue earned paid sick time, regardless of how limited the employee’s schedule is. Salaried-exempt employees are assumed to have worked 40 hours in each work week (unless their regularly-worked hours worked are less than 40 hours per week).
Q3. How much paid sick leave can an employee use per year?
A3. For employers with less than 15 employees, employees can use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year. For employers with more than 15 employees, employees can use up to 56 hours of paid sick time per year. While there is a limit on how many hours of sick leave employees are entitled to use, the law does not limit how many hours employees are entitled to accrue.
Q4. We already offer a gratuitous PTO policy that provides employees with more leave than the new paid sick leave law requires. Does our PTO policy comply with the new sick leave law?
A4. Missouri’s new paid sick leave law provides that an employer with a paid leave policy who makes available an amount of paid leave sufficient to meet the accrual requirements and may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as earned paid sick time under the new law is not required to provide additional paid sick time under the new law. However, this is a high burden to reach. Answer these questions:
1) Does your PTO policy provide PTO for part-time employees?
2) Does your PTO policy allow for immediate accrual upon the first day of hire?
3) Does your PTO policy allow employees to use PTO for the numerous reasons set out in the new paid sick leave law (domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, counseling, or any of the same for a family member, etc.)?
4) Does your PTO policy allow for roll over or pay out in lieu of roll over?
5) Does your PTO policy allow for employees to use PTO days without notice where the need is not foreseeable without discipline?
These are just a few issue-spotting questions and the answers for most employers are “no.” With that said, assuming the new paid sick leave law goes into effect on May 1, 2025, it is going to require most employers to revise their policies.
As mentioned above, it is important to review your business’ current employment policies and consult with counsel or contact a Danna McKitrick employment law attorney to determine how this new paid sick leave law may affect your company’s current policies.
04/10/25 3:17 PM
Filed under Business Law, Employment Law | Comments Off on Missouri’s Paid Sick Leave Law: Quickly Approaching Deadline on April 15, 2025
