Missouri voters will decide in November whether to raise the state’s minimum wage and guarantee paid sick leave for workers. On August 13, 2024, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft certified a ballot measure advanced by the Missourians for Healthy Families & Fair Wages.
Proposition A proposes to guarantee that Missouri workers can earn up to seven paid sick days per year and would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. Proposition A asks: Do you want to amend Missouri law to:
- Increase minimum wage January 1, 2025, to $13.75 per hour, increasing $25 per hour each year until 2026, when the minimum wage would be $15.00 per hour;
- Adjust minimum wage based on changes in the Consumer Price Index each January beginning in 2027;
- Require all employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked;
- Allow the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to provide oversight and enforcement; and
- Exempt governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts, and education institutions?
Notably, Proposition A exempts federal, state and local governments, school districts, and educational institutions, among others, from its requirements. Proposition A also carves out numerous exceptions to the “employees” subject to the proposed amended statute, including government workers, non-profit volunteers or independent contractors, retail or service employees who work for a business that makes less than $500,000 per year, individuals who are incarcerated, golf caddies, and babysitters.
If it passes, Proposition A would change Missouri law rather than the Constitution. Practically speaking, that means the Republican-controlled General Assembly could repeal the measure. However, the popularity of previous ballot initiatives raising the minimum wage curtailed action from the General Assembly. Therefore, if Proposition A passes by a large margin, the General Assembly may be reticent to repeal.
