MO · state labor law, 2026
Missouri labor laws: minimum wage, overtime, leave, final pay and breaks
Voters raised Missouri's wage to $15 and added paid sick leave in 2024; the legislature kept the wage, stopped its indexing and repealed the sick leave in 2025.
Missouri and federal rules checked on official sources on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Minimum wage now
- $15.00/h
- statewide
- Next change
- none announced
- checked October 11, 2026
- Tipped cash wage
- $7.50/h
- tips must make up the rest
- Overtime
- 40 h/week
- state law
- Paid sick leave
- no state law
- employer policy
- Paid family leave
- no program
- FMLA is unpaid
Missouri's minimum wage is $15.00 an hour in 2026, the last step of the increase voters approved with Proposition A in November 2024. It will stay there: a 2025 law, HB 567, removed the yearly inflation adjustment that was due to start in 2027, so the rate changes only if the legislature or voters act again. Full time at $15.00 pays $31,200 a year. Tipped employees receive at least $7.50, half the minimum, with tips covering the rest. The same 2025 law repealed the paid sick leave that Proposition A had required from May 1, 2025, effective August 28, 2025, so Missouri again has no paid sick leave mandate. Overtime is due after 40 hours a week. A fired employee is owed wages on the day of discharge, and small retail and service businesses with sales under $500,000 are outside the state wage law.
Gross pay for this week in Missouri
$600
Time and a half after 40 hours in a week
| Minimum wage in Missouri now | $15 an hour |
| Your rate against it | At or above the minimum |
| Overtime: none this week | $0 |
| Paid sick leave earned in a year | No statewide paid sick leave law |
| Breaks owed in a 8-hour shift | None required for adults |
| Final paycheck if fired | on the day of discharge (employee may request payment be sent; penalty wages if not received within 7 days of the written request) |
| Unused vacation at the end | No state rule: the employer policy decides |
| Paid family leave | No state program |
40 hours a week at $15. State rule applied. Minimum wage, overtime and leave rules have exceptions by employer size and industry. How this is calculated.
From ballot box to statute book
Proposition A did two things: it raised the minimum wage to $15.00 on January 1, 2026, with annual cost-of-living increases afterward, and it created a right to earn paid sick time. HB 567 kept the $15.00 rate but ended the indexing, and it repealed the sick leave sections outright. Workers who had started accruing sick hours in the spring of 2025 lost the legal right to them once the repeal took effect on August 28, 2025, although an employer may keep offering paid sick time as a matter of policy. Since that same date, the state minimum wage also covers public employers, including cities, counties and school districts.
Compare two states for a full-time minimum wage job
Texas / California, per hour
$7.25 / $16.90
| Full-time year (2,080 h) | $15,080 / $35,152 |
| Gap over a year | $20,072 |
| Paid sick leave law | no / yes |
| Paid family leave program | no / yes |
Who the $15.00 rate covers
Retail and service businesses with annual gross sales below $500,000 are exempt from the Missouri wage law. Their employees still have federal protection when their employer or their work is covered by the FLSA, in which case at least the federal $7.25 applies. Tipped workers get a cash wage of $7.50; if tips do not bring the hour to $15.00 over the workweek, the employer pays the rest.
Do your tips cover the minimum wage?
Employer top-up owed per hour
$3.50
| Cash wage | $7.50 |
| Cash wage + tips | $11.50 |
| Minimum wage in Missouri | $15.00 |
| Top-up over a 30-hour week | $105 |
Overtime and pay at the end of a job
Missouri follows the 40-hour weekly rule. A machine operator earning $17 who works five 9-hour days has 5 overtime hours and a gross week of $808. When an employee is discharged, Missouri law makes wages due that day; the worker may ask in writing for the pay to be sent, and if it does not arrive within seven days of that request, penalty wages can run. For workers who quit, no Missouri statute sets a deadline. Vacation payout depends on the employer's policy, and Missouri has no meal or rest break law for adults, so breaks also follow policy. Missouri is not a right-to-work state: the right-to-work law passed in 2017 never took effect after voters rejected it in a 2018 referendum.
The service letter
A rule found in few other states: an employee with at least 90 days of service at a corporation with seven or more employees may ask, by certified mail, for a letter stating what work they did and the true reason they left. The employer has 45 days to answer. The letter can matter for a future job or a dispute, so the request is worth making soon after leaving. The final paycheck page covers the payment side in every state.
Missouri employment rules at a glance, 2026
Minimum wage schedule
| From | Who it covers | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2026 | Statewide | $15.00 | Retail or service businesses with annual gross sales under $500,000 are exempt from the state minimum wage (RSMo 290.500) |
Workers covered by both laws get the higher rate. 2025 law HB 567 ended the annual cost-of-living indexing: the rate stays at $15.00 after 2026 unless the law changes. Read the Missouri rule.
Overtime
Time and a half after 40 hours in a week. The salary test for exempt employees is the federal $684 a week. Time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek. source
Sick leave and family leave
Missouri has no statewide paid sick leave law for private employers; leave depends on the employer's policy or a city ordinance. No statewide paid sick leave requirement since 2025-08-28. source
No state paid family leave insurance: the federal FMLA gives eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.
Final paycheck and unused vacation
Fired or laid off: on the day of discharge (employee may request payment be sent; penalty wages if not received within 7 days of the written request). Quitting: no state statute sets a deadline for workers who quit (federal law sets none either). Vacation: No Missouri statute requires payout of accrued vacation; follows employer policy or contract.. source
Meal and rest breaks
No meal break is required for adults by state law. No paid rest break is required for adults.
Unions and dismissal
Missouri has no right-to-work law, so a union contract may require a fee from the workers it covers. Employment is at will: either side may end it at any time, except for an illegal reason such as discrimination or retaliation, or against a contract.
Also worth knowing in Missouri
- Paid sick leave approved by voters in Proposition A (November 2024) was repealed by HB 567, effective August 28, 2025. source
- Since August 28, 2025, the state minimum wage also applies to public employers (state, cities, counties, school districts). source
- Service letter: a corporation with 7+ employees must, on written request by certified mail from an employee with 90+ days of service, issue a letter stating the nature of service and the true cause of departure within 45 days. source