Missouri Voters to Decide on Paid Leave

On Election Day, November 5, 2024, Missouri voters will decide whether to require employers to provide earned paid sick time (PST) to eligible employees. The proposed law would mandate that PST accrue at a rate of one hour for every thirty hours worked, starting from May 1, 2025, for existing employees or from the first day of employment for new hires. Employers with fifteen or more employees can limit an employee’s use of PST to fifty-six hours per year, while those with fewer than fifteen employees can limit usage to forty hours per year.

Employers must allow employees to carry over at least eighty hours of unused PST from year to year. Employees can use PST for self-care, including physical or mental illness, injury, health condition, medical diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive medical care. They can also use it to care for family members with similar qualifying reasons.

PST can be used during public health emergencies, such as closures by public officials affecting the employee’s workplace or child’s school, and to care for oneself or a family member due to exposure to a communicable disease. It also covers domestic violence and related issues, including medical attention, psychological counseling, victim services, legal services, and relocation. The proposed law defines family members more broadly than the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), encompassing relationships such as children, parents, spouses, domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings, whether biological, foster, adoptive, or step-relations.

Missouri’s proposed paid leave requirements

Employees should make a good faith effort to provide notice when the leave is foreseeable and try not to disrupt the employer’s operations. Employers must provide employees with written notice of their rights and obligations under the PST law within fourteen days of employment commencement or by April 15, 2025, whichever is later.

A poster with the relevant information must also be displayed beginning April 15, 2025. Interfering with, restraining, or denying the exercise of any right under the PST law is prohibited, as is retaliating against employees for using PST or asserting their rights under the law. Employees can bring a civil action for violations within three years, potentially recovering unpaid PST, damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Employers may face fines and criminal liability for willful violations. The certainty of PST in Missouri will depend on the election outcome. Employers should prepare by familiarizing themselves with the proposed requirements to ensure compliance if the measure is approved.

For more details, employees and employers can reach out to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR).