| Fair Employment Practices | The Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA) outlaws discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability (physical or mental), age, and gender for private companies with six or more employees. The MHRA forbids discrimination, including harassment, based on these criteria.
An employee who opposes unlawful discrimination files a complaint or participates in an investigation or action under the MHRA may not be subjected to retaliation by a Missouri employer. |
| Disability Accommodation | A Missouri employer is required by the MHRA to proactively provide reasonable accommodations for a disabled employee's or applicant's recognized restrictions. |
| Equal Pay | According to Missouri's equal pay law, an employer is not allowed to pay female employees less than male employees in the same establishment for the same quantity and quality of the same classification of work unless pay is determined by factors other than gender, such as seniority, length of service, ability, skill, differences in the duties performed or in the shifts or hours worked, lifting restrictions, or seniority. |
| Whistleblower Protections | The Whistleblower's Protection Act forbids employers with six or more workers from firing a worker because they reported an employer's unlawful act to a government or law enforcement agency, an officer of the employer, the employee's supervisor, reported to the employer serious misconduct by the employer that breaches a public policy or refused to follow a directive given by the employer that, if followed, would result in legal action. |
| Minimum Wage | The minimum wage in Missouri is higher than the federal government's. The state's minimum wage is $12 per hour with few exclusions. Every year on January 1st, Missouri's minimum wage is raised to reflect inflation. |
| Overtime | According to Missouri law, an employer must compensate covered employees for all hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek at one and a half times the standard rate. |
| Child Labor | Minors under the age of 16 are not allowed to work in any occupation or place of business that puts their health or morals in danger, such as operating any power-driven machinery or motor vehicle, working with radiation or toxic chemicals, oiling, cleaning, maintaining, or washing machine, working on ladders or scaffolding, cutting stone (except for in the jewelry industry), working in or around a motel, resort, hotel, or where people sleep. |
| Health Care Continuation | According to Missouri law, group health insurance plans given to businesses with two to 19 employees must provide continuing health care coverage. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and Missouri legislation have the same qualifying events and duration of coverage. |
| Pay Frequency | In general, non-exempt workers must be paid at least every two months and no later than 16 days following the end of each payroll period. Exempt workers may receive monthly compensation.
Additionally, a Missouri employer must pay workers the entire amount of all wages earned up to the first day of each month on or before the 15th day. |
| Pay Statements | In Missouri, employers must give staff a written statement detailing all salary deductions made during the previous month at least once. |
| Wage Deductions | If an employee freely accepts them for their advantage, the employer in Missouri is permitted to deduct from their compensation the fair market value of their meals, lodging, and other goods and services as a credit towards the payment of the minimum wage.
There are some things that an employer cannot deduct from an employee's pay, including transportation provided by the company, upkeep of tools, equipment, or clothing, and repairs for lost or broken items. |
| Wage Notices | A Missouri employer is required to provide affected workers with at least 30 days' notice before reducing their pay. The warning may be mailed to each affected employee or posted in a prominent location where the affected employees work. |
| Leaves of Absence | Missouri has several regulations governing mandated vacation time and employee leaves of absence. These laws cover various topics, such as voting rights, jury duty rights, crime victim rights, domestic abuse rights, emergency responder rights, military rights, and civil Air Patrol rights. |
| Smoke-Free Workplace | The Indoor Clean Air Act of Missouri forbids smoking in workplaces, but it permits an employer to designate a smoking area as long as it occupies no more than 30% of the whole workplace and is properly separated from the rest of the building by physical barriers and ventilation systems. |
| Weapons in the Workplace | According to Missouri law, employers are free to forbid their staff members with concealed carry permits from doing so on company property and inside company-owned cars. |
| Final Pay | All earnings due on the day of termination must be paid to terminated employees, regardless of whether the termination was voluntary or involuntary. If an employer doesn't make a payment within seven days of the deadline, they risk having to pay the employee's wages for an additional 60 days. |
