State legislation ending mandatory paid sick leave in Missouri was enacted last week, repealing a short-lived proposition.
Missourians voted in favor of Proposition A during the November 2024 general election. In part, House Bill 567 walked back the portion of Proposition A that mandated many employers provide paid sick leave for workers.
The repeal was introduced in the House in April and signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe in July.
The provision of Proposition A that increases the minimum wage to $15 in 2026 will still take effect. Annual increases, which were set to start in 2027 and were based on the cost of living, have been repealed.
Some employers are unsure how to proceed without clear guidance from the administration on what to do with sick leave accrued before the repeal. The paid sick leave provision was in place for 119 days from May 1 to Aug. 28.
Maura Browning, strategic communications director at the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, said that it is up to businesses to determine what is done with employees’ earned paid sick leave.
Megan Davis, vice president of marketing and communications for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the chamber has not heard anything from government officials since communication of the repeal last week.
The chamber created a resource for employers statewide to reference based on their knowledge of the change.
“Each business is going to have to decide for themselves what’s best for them,” Davis said.
The guide offers information to employers on how to navigate the repeal, including a “sliding scale” of risk that offers employers options on how to proceed.
According to the chamber, the “most risky” option for employers is to retract all earned paid sick time. The “safest” option recommends that employers allow the usage of earned paid sick time until April 30, 2026, and pay out employees for their time accrued that remains unused.
Ray McCarty, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri, said the organization encourages employers to speak to legal counsel if they intend to retract earned but unused sick leave accrued when the law was in effect.
“Most employers are either allowing the employee to retain and use the sick leave ... or paying employees for the time earned,” McCarty said. “From our conversations with employers, these are the two most common ways employers are treating the leave.”
The proposition does not apply to public entities.
This story was published by the Columbia Missourian and shared via Missouri Business Alert.
