At any given moment in Missouri, a working parent might miss a day’s pay to care for their sick child. New mothers could return to work just days after giving birth to make ends meet, while fast-food workers may skip car payments to cover rent.
Labor movement leaders say these harsh workplace realities affect hundreds of thousands of low-wage and hourly workers across the state. That’s why they’re pushing for an increased minimum wage and paid sick leave.
But business groups counter that a higher minimum wage and new sick leave benefits will increase costs and eliminate jobs.
In November, voters will have the chance to weigh in on the conversation.
Proposition A would raise Missouri’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. It would also mandate paid sick leave for all private employees.
Around 900,000 workers — nearly a third of Missouri’s workforce — would either get automatic raises or likely get raises because they already make just above that new minimum wage, according to the Economic Policy Institute. And with one in five private employees nationwide lacking paid sick time, organizers say that this proposition would especially benefit poor Missourians.
“It’s the workers earning some of the lowest wages who face the starkest choices,” said Richard Von Glahn, campaign manager for Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages, the coalition behind Proposition A. “What do parents do if staying home to care for a child means missing a paycheck?”
Yet some economists and small-business owners argue that companies may struggle to sustain their workforce with higher wages and paid sick leave, potentially leading to job cuts or reduced hours.
“Employees may get more money, but they could end up working harder due to less staff,” said Chris Kuehl, co-founder and chief economist at Armada Corporate Intelligence.
What changes would Proposition A bring?
If passed, Proposition A would raise Missouri’s minimum wage from $12.30 to $13.75 per hour by 2025, reaching $15 per hour in 2026. It would also require employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work.
Missouri would join 18 other states and Washington, D.C., in requiring paid sick leave.
Voters in Missouri have already approved similar measures. In 2018, voters passed a gradual minimum wage increase from $7.85, bringing it to $12 per hour by 2023. The current rate is $12.30.
Kansas City voters have shown especially strong support for wage hikes, passing an ordinance in 2015 to raise the minimum wage to $13. That ordinance was delayed in court and later capped at $10 in 2017 before the Missouri General Assembly barred cities from setting a minimum wage higher than the state’s.
Missouri workers want higher minimum wage and more benefits
Missouri’s minimum wage of $12.30 an hour, which ranks 18th highest among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, surpasses the federal minimum wage of $7.25. That $7.25 hasn’t changed since 2009. To adjust for inflation, the $7.25 federal minimum wage set in 2009 would be $10.64 today.
The median minimum wage across U.S. states is $12 an hour, but many argue it still falls short of providing a living wage.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology defines a living wage as the minimum income needed to cover basic needs while working full-time. In Kansas City, that is $21.70 per hour for a single adult and $40.01 for two adults with two children.
Someone earning Missouri’s current minimum wage brings in $492 a week before taxes, or $25,584 a year.
“Four hundred ninety-two dollars a week is not enough to survive in any county in this state,” Von Glahn said.
And while paid sick leave is nearly universal for salaried jobs, he said, it isn’t guaranteed for low-wage workers.
As a result, nearly 950,000 Missouri workers do not have access to paid sick leave.
Bill Thompson, an organizer with Stand Up KC, said he never had sick leave in his 37 years as a low-wage worker — until he started his new job at the Guitar Center distribution center.
Thompson worked in the kitchen at Burger King when his mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. He took leave from work to take care of her.
“That was eight weeks that I took off from work that I wasn’t paid for,” he said. He said family and friends brought him meals or he relied on food pantries to put food on the table.
Housing lawyers say that when poor workers lack sick leave, any health issue could lead them to eviction court.
“If you get COVID and have to stay off work for a week, you can’t pay rent,” said Gina Chiala, executive director of the Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom.
Kuehl, the economist, said that while a wage increase will put more money in workers’ pockets, it won’t be life-changing, especially since many hourly workers don’t work full-time.
“Fifteen dollars an hour isn’t going to catapult people into robust income levels,” he said.
How will Missouri businesses respond to higher minimum wage and sick leave?
Kara Corches, interim president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told MissouriNet that the chamber will always oppose statewide mandates on business operations.
“Businesses are paying competitive wages,” she said. “In this tight labor market, if they are not paying competitive wages, that employee is going to go to the next business down the street. … We do not have a job market where we can afford to lose a single person.”
At Guitar Center, Thompson makes $20 an hour, plus commission once he’s on the sales floor. He receives two paid 20-minute breaks and an hour lunch break. His benefits package includes paid sick leave and free mental health consultations.
Nearly 4,000 people have applied to be a gear adviser at Guitar Center since May, Thompson said.
“That tells you,” he said, “exactly why we need more companies stepping up to offer these things to workers because the need is there.”
Many companies also offer robust benefits packages to attract workers and reduce turnover, Kuehl said. With the expansion of government-subsidized insurance, workers increasingly expect creative benefits from their jobs. Employees also seek jobs with paid time off and flexible schedules, he said.
Can small businesses afford Proposition A?
Small-business leaders say offering higher wages and flexible schedules makes it harder to meet payroll.
Kuehl said that unlike larger operations like Walmart — which can cut staff when business is slow — small businesses run with much leaner staff.
After the state minimum wage was raised in 2024, members of the Missouri chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business told KRCG that small-business owners and their employees needed more support from state lawmakers, such as childcare tax credits.
Small businesses that struggled during the pandemic continue to face financial hurdles. The 2023 Small Business Credit Survey found that 90% of small businesses reported either financial or operational challenges.
Many employers struggle to afford competitive benefits. That’s led to issues hiring and retaining qualified staff. Business owners also reported financial challenges in the rising costs of goods, services and wages.
“Raising the minimum wage isn’t helping the situation,” NFIB State Director Brad Jones said in the KRCG article.
Not all small businesses are subject to the same laws, however. Retail and service companies earning less than $500,000 annually are not required to pay minimum wage by federal law.
Kuehl said business owners are turning to technology in place of wage-earning employees to deal with the rising cost of labor.
“They say, ‘I can pay you $15 an hour or I can bring in a robot and I don’t have to pay you at all,’” he said. “So what you see is a lot more self-service kiosks, AI and robotics to replace people.”
Despite these challenges, Von Glahn said that several business owners see value in higher wages and sick leave. More than 450 small businesses have endorsed Proposition A, he said.
“When you invest in people and support them in reaching their full potential, they’re able to be productive and dependable workers,” he said. “And they’re able to invest back into their community.”
