In November 2024, Missouri voters approved Proposition A that, among other changes, amended chapter 290 of the Missouri Revised Statutes to include earned paid sick time requirements. The earned paid sick time requirements go into effect on May 1, 2025, and employers subject to the law would be well served to review its requirements prior to that date.
Covered Employers and Employees
Covered Employers
All private employers in Missouri must comply with the requirement to offer earned paid sick time. However, there are differences for employers with 14 or fewer employees.
Covered Employees
While most employees of covered employers will accrue earned paid sick time, the law excludes certain individuals who would otherwise be “employees” and able to accrue earned paid sick time. For a complete list of exceptions you can review the Paid Sick Time Benefits – FAQs.
Notably, employees of a retail or service business whose annual gross volume sales made or business done is less than five hundred thousand dollars do not accrue earned paid sick time as they are excluded from the definition of “employee” for earned paid sick time purposes.
Reasons for Leave
Employees may use earned paid sick time for:
- Employee’s or employee’s family member’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; employee’s or employee’s family member’s need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of mental or physical illness, or health condition; employee’s or employee’s family member’s need for preventative medical care;
- Closure of employee’s place of business due to public health emergency; care for child whose school or place of care is closed due to public health emergency; employee or employee’s family member is determined to be a threat to the health of others due to communicable disease;
- Absences necessary due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking to obtain:
- Medical attention to recover from injuries;
- Services from a victim services organization;
- Psychological or other counseling;
- Relocation or taking steps to secure an existing home;
- Legal services.
Amount of Leave
Employees of employers with 14 or fewer employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked and are able to use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year unless their employer allows more. An employer’s employee count is based on all employees performing work in Missouri for the employer.
Employees of employers with 15 or more employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked and are able to use up to 56 hours of paid sick time per year unless their employer allows more.
In lieu of accrual, an employer can frontload the expected amount of paid sick time for immediate use at the beginning of the year.
Up to 80 hours of earned, but unused paid sick time carries over from year to year. Carryover can be avoided if an employer pays out the unused paid sick time at the end of the year and provides an employee with an amount paid sick time that meets the requirements of the law for immediate use at the beginning of the next year.
Employers with existing paid leave policies can use those policies to comply with the earned paid sick time requirements if their existing paid leave policy provides enough paid leave to meet the accrual requirements of the law and the existing paid leave can be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as leave under the earned paid sick time requirements.
Employer Notice and Record Retention Requirements
Employers must maintain documentation showing hours worked by employees and the amount of earned paid stick time taken for at least 3 years.
Employers must also provide written notice of the paid sick leave requirements as soon as possible, or within 14 days of commencement of employment, whichever is later. The notice must be provided on a sheet of paper that is at least 8.5 x 11 and in no less than 14-point font. A model notice is available here.
Starting April 15, 2025, employers must post a poster containing information about the earned paid sick time requirements in a conspicuous and accessible place. A model poster is available here.
Key Takeaways:
Employers subject to Missouri’s earned paid sick time should review the requirements of the law to determine what action they need to take to comply with the law when it goes into effect on May 1, 2025. Some employers may find they can rely on existing paid leave policy to comply with the law while others may need to adjust their existing leave policies to come into compliance.
The information provided is a summary of laws and regulations relating to employee benefit plan compliance. This information should not be construed as legal advice. In all cases, employers should consult with their own legal counsel.
