What is the minimum wage?
Missouri workers covered by the Minimum Wage Law are entitled to a minimum wage of $15.00 an hour, effective January 1, 2026 . If the federal minimum wage rate is ever higher than the Missouri rate, the higher federal rate immediately becomes the Missouri minimum wage . Federal law is addressed in the federal wage and hour guide.
From 2008 on, the rate went up or down each January 1 with the cost of living, but those adjustments ended December 31, 2024 .
Beginning August 28, 2025, the minimum wage section also applies to public employers with respect to their employees . A public employer for this purpose is the state or a political subdivision of the state, including state departments, agencies, boards and commissions, and cities, counties, towns, villages and school districts .
The Minimum Wage Law's definition of employee leaves out a list of groups. That list includes individuals employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity; individuals paid wholly or partly by sales commissions whose hours and places of work the employer does not substantially control; and individuals employed by a retail or service business with annual gross volume of sales made or business done under $500,000 . The list also includes, among others, people employed on a casual basis to babysit and individuals employed for less than four months a year at a resident or day camp for children or youth .
The Minimum Wage Law also does not apply to certain employees or employers engaged in agriculture . The excluded situations include an employee whose employer did not, during any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year, use more than five hundred man-days of agriculture labor; an employee who is the parent, spouse, child or other member of the employer's immediate family; and an employee principally engaged in the range production of livestock .
After a public hearing of which affected employees must be given reasonable notice, the director provides by regulation for employing learners and apprentices at wages below the otherwise applicable rate, where the director finds it appropriate to prevent curtailment of employment opportunities . That learner rate may not be less than 90 cents below the minimum wage, and the provision may not be used to evade the spirit and meaning of the Minimum Wage Law . A learner or apprentice is an individual under 20 years of age who has not finished the required training for a particular job. That status generally ends after three months of training, unless the director finds after investigation that the occupation's minimum proficiency cannot be acquired in three months. In no case does it last beyond six months of training for a particular employer or job .
After a public hearing, the director must provide by regulation for employing individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by physical or mental deficiency at wages below the otherwise applicable rate .
No political subdivision may establish, mandate or otherwise require an employer to provide an employee a minimum or living wage rate or employment benefits that exceed state laws, rules, or regulations . For this rule, employer does not include a public employer, and employment benefits include health, retirement and profit-sharing benefits and paid or unpaid days off . The Minimum Wage Law also preempts and nullifies political subdivision ordinances, rules and regulations, whether in effect now or enacted later, relating to the establishment or enforcement of a minimum or living wage or the provision of employment benefits that exceed state laws, rules, or regulations .
Nothing in the Minimum Wage Law diminishes employees' right to bargain collectively, through representatives of their own choosing, for wages or other conditions of work above the minimum .
Sources for this answer
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.3 provides that Missouri's statutory minimum wage rose to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2026.
Thereafter, the minimum wage established by this subsection shall be increased by $1.25 per hour, to $15.00 per hour, effective January 1, 2026.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.3
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.3 provides that when the federal minimum wage rate is above the Missouri minimum wage then in effect, the higher federal rate immediately becomes the Missouri minimum wage.
If at any time the federal minimum wage rate is above or is thereafter increased above the minimum wage then in effect under this subsection, the higher federal rate shall immediately become the minimum wage required by this subsection.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.3
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.2 provides that annual cost-of-living adjustments to the Missouri minimum wage, which began January 1, 2008, ended December 31, 2024.
The minimum wage shall be increased or decreased on January 1, 2008, and on January 1 of successive years but ending December 31, 2024, by the increase or decrease in the cost of living.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.2
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.4 provides that beginning August 28, 2025, the Missouri minimum wage section applies to public employers with respect to their employees.
Beginning on August 28, 2025, the provisions of this section shall apply to a public employer with respect to its employees.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.4
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.4 provides that for the minimum wage section, a public employer is the state or any political subdivision of the state, including state agencies and cities, counties, towns, villages and school districts.
For purposes of this section, the term “public employer” means an employer that is the state or a political subdivision of the state, including a department, agency, officer, bureau, division, board, commission, or instrumentality of the state, or a city, county, town, village, school district, or other political subdivision of the state.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502.4
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3) defines an employee as any individual employed by an employer and, in paragraphs (a) through (m), excludes listed groups, including bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees, certain commission salespeople, and employees of retail or service businesses with annual gross volume under five hundred thousand dollars.
(3) “Employee”, any individual employed by an employer, except that the term “employee” shall not include: (a) Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity; (b) Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist or where the services rendered to the organization are on a voluntary basis; (c) Any individual standing in loco parentis to foster children in their care; (d) Any individual employed for less than four months in any year in a resident or day camp for children or youth, or any individual employed by an educational conference center operated by an educational, charitable or not-for-profit organization; (e) Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational organization where employment by the organization is in lieu of the requirement that the individual pay the cost of tuition, housing or other educational fees of the organization or where earnings of the individual employed by the organization are credited toward the payment of the cost of tuition, housing or other educational fees of the organization; (f) Any individual employed on or about a private residence on an occasional basis for six hours or less on each occasion; (g) Any handicapped person employed in a sheltered workshop, certified by the department of elementary and secondary education; (h) Any person employed on a casual basis to provide baby-sitting services; (i) Any individual employed by an employer subject to the provisions of part A of subtitle IV of title 49, United States Code, 49 U.S.C. §§ 10101 et seq.; (j) Any individual employed on a casual or intermittent basis as a golf caddy, newsboy, or in a similar occupation; (k) Any individual whose earnings are derived in whole or in part from sales commissions and whose hours and places of employment are not substantially controlled by the employer; (l) Any individual who is employed in any government position defined in 29 U.S.C. §§ 203(e)(2)(C)(i)-(ii); (m) Any individual employed by a retail or service business whose annual gross volume sales made or business done is less than five hundred thousand dollars;
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3)(a)-(m)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.507 provides that the Minimum Wage Law does not apply to employees or employers engaged in agriculture in the listed situations, including small users of agricultural labor, immediate family members, certain hand harvest laborers, and range livestock workers.
Sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall not apply to any employee or employer engaged in agriculture, as defined in section 290.500 (A) if such employee is employed by an employer who did not, during any calendar quarter during the preceding calendar year, use more than five hundred man-days of agriculture labor, (B) if such employee is the parent, spouse, child, or other member of his employer's immediate family, (C) if such employee (i) is employed as a hand harvest laborer and is paid on a piece rate basis in an operation which has been, and is customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece rate basis in the region of employment, (ii) commutes daily from his permanent residence to the farm on which he is so employed, and (iii) has been employed in agriculture less than thirteen weeks during the preceding calendar year, (D) if such employee (other than an employee described in clause (C) of this subsection) (i) is sixteen years of age or under and is employed as a hand harvest laborer, is paid on a piece rate basis in an operation which has been, and is customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece rate basis in the region of employment, (ii) is employed on the same farm as his parent or person standing in the place of his parent, and (iii) is paid at the same piece rate as employees over age sixteen are paid on the same farm, or (E) if such employee is principally engaged in the range production of livestock.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.507
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.517 provides that after a public hearing with reasonable notice to affected employees, the director must provide by regulation for employing learners and apprentices at wages below the applicable rate where appropriate to prevent curtailment of employment opportunities, at a rate not less than 90 cents below the minimum wage.
After a public hearing of which individual employees affected must be given reasonable notice, the director shall provide by regulation for the employment in any occupation, at wages lower than the wage rate applicable under sections 290.500 to 290.530, of such learners and apprentices as he finds appropriate to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment. Such wage rate for learners and apprentices shall be not less than 90 cents less than the minimum wage established by sections 290.500 to 290.530. At no time may this provision be used for the purpose of evading the spirit and meaning of sections 290.500 to 290.530.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.517
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(5) provides that a learner or apprentice is an individual under 20 who has not completed required job training, and the status generally ends after three months of training and in no case lasts beyond six months for a particular employer or job.
(5) “Learner and apprentice”, any individual under 20 years of age who has not completed the required training for a particular job. In no event shall the individual be deemed a learner or apprentice in the occupation after three months of training except where the director finds, after investigation, that for the particular occupation a minimum of proficiency cannot be acquired in three months. In no case shall a person be declared to be a learner or apprentice after six months of training for a particular employer or job.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(5)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.515 provides that after a public hearing, the director must provide by regulation for employing individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by physical or mental deficiency at wages below the applicable minimum rate.
After a public hearing at which any person may be heard, the director shall provide by regulation for the employment in any occupation of individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by physical or mental deficiency at wages lower than the wage rate applicable under sections 290.500 to 290.530.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.515
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.528.1(2)-(4), .2 provides that no Missouri political subdivision may establish, mandate or otherwise require an employer, a term that excludes public employers, to provide an employee a minimum or living wage rate or employment benefits that exceed state laws, rules, or regulations.
(2) “Employer”, any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or any other entity that is legally doing business in this state; except that, the term “employer” shall not include any public employer, as defined in section 285.525; (3) “Employment benefits”, anything of value that an employee may receive from an employer in addition to wages and salary. The term includes, but is not limited to, health, disability, retirement, profit-sharing, and death benefits; group accidental death and dismemberment benefits; paid or unpaid days off from work for holidays, sick leave, vacation, and personal necessity; and terms of employment, attendance, or leave policies; (4) “Political subdivision”, any municipality, special district, local governmental body, county, city, town, or village. 2. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, no political subdivision shall establish, mandate, or otherwise require an employer to provide to an employee: (1) A minimum or living wage rate; or (2) Employment benefits; that exceed state laws, rules, or regulations.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.528.1(2)-(4), .2
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.528 provides that the Minimum Wage Law preempts and nullifies political subdivision ordinances, rules and regulations relating to a minimum or living wage or employment benefits that exceed state laws, rules, or regulations.
Sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall preempt and nullify all political subdivision ordinances, rules, and regulations currently in effect or later enacted relating to the establishment or enforcement of a minimum or living wage or the provision of employment benefits that exceed state laws, rules, or regulations.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.528
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.530 provides that the Minimum Wage Law does not diminish employees' right to bargain collectively through representatives of their choosing for wages or conditions above the statutory minimum.
Nothing in sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall be deemed to interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of their own choosing in order to establish wages or other conditions of work in excess of the applicable minimum under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.530
When is overtime owed?
Missouri employers must pay employees covered by the Minimum Wage Law at least one and one-half times their regular rate for hours worked beyond forty in a workweek, subject to two exceptions in the statute . Employees of an amusement or recreation business that meets criteria the statute borrows from federal law are owed time and a half only after fifty-two hours in a one-week period , and, apart from those amusement or recreation employees, employees exempt from federal minimum wage or overtime requirements are not covered by the forty-hour rule . The Minimum Wage Law's overtime rule is measured by the workweek, not by the day .
Unless the Minimum Wage Law provides otherwise, the overtime section is interpreted in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Portal to Portal Act and the regulations issued under them . Federal law is addressed in the federal wage and hour guide.
A separate, much older Missouri statute makes eight hours a legal day's work but lets the parties to a contract for work agree on a longer or shorter time, and it sets no overtime pay . That eight-hour section does not apply to persons hired by the month or to laborers or farm hands working for farmers or others engaged in agriculture .
Missouri's prevailing wage law requires that workers employed by or on behalf of a public body in the construction of public works, exclusive of maintenance work, be paid at least the prevailing hourly rate of wages for similar work in the locality or the public works contracting minimum wage, whichever applies . For overtime work on public works construction, those workers must be paid at least one and one-half the prevailing hourly rate of wages or the public works contracting minimum wage, whichever applies, and overtime work includes work over ten hours in one day and work over forty hours in one calendar week . Only workers directly employed by contractors or subcontractors in actual construction work on the site of the building or construction job are deemed employed upon public works . Workers who haul materials or equipment are also deemed employed directly on public works when the hauling includes some phase of construction other than mere transportation to the site . The prevailing wage sections do not apply to the construction of public works for which the engineer's estimate or the bid the public body accepted for the total project cost is seventy-five thousand dollars or less . When a change order raises the total project cost of such a project above seventy-five thousand dollars, those sections apply only to the portion of the project in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars .
Sources for this answer
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.1 provides that a Missouri employer must pay an employee at least one and one-half times the regular rate for hours worked beyond forty in a workweek.
No employer shall employ any of his employees for a workweek longer than forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.1
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3)(a)-(m) excludes listed groups from the Minimum Wage Law's definition of employee, which governs its overtime section, including bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees, certain commission salespeople, and employees of retail or service businesses with annual gross volume under five hundred thousand dollars.
(3) “Employee”, any individual employed by an employer, except that the term “employee” shall not include: (a) Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity; (b) Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist or where the services rendered to the organization are on a voluntary basis; (c) Any individual standing in loco parentis to foster children in their care; (d) Any individual employed for less than four months in any year in a resident or day camp for children or youth, or any individual employed by an educational conference center operated by an educational, charitable or not-for-profit organization; (e) Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational organization where employment by the organization is in lieu of the requirement that the individual pay the cost of tuition, housing or other educational fees of the organization or where earnings of the individual employed by the organization are credited toward the payment of the cost of tuition, housing or other educational fees of the organization; (f) Any individual employed on or about a private residence on an occasional basis for six hours or less on each occasion; (g) Any handicapped person employed in a sheltered workshop, certified by the department of elementary and secondary education; (h) Any person employed on a casual basis to provide baby-sitting services; (i) Any individual employed by an employer subject to the provisions of part A of subtitle IV of title 49, United States Code, 49 U.S.C. §§ 10101 et seq.; (j) Any individual employed on a casual or intermittent basis as a golf caddy, newsboy, or in a similar occupation; (k) Any individual whose earnings are derived in whole or in part from sales commissions and whose hours and places of employment are not substantially controlled by the employer; (l) Any individual who is employed in any government position defined in 29 U.S.C. §§ 203(e)(2)(C)(i)-(ii); (m) Any individual employed by a retail or service business whose annual gross volume sales made or business done is less than five hundred thousand dollars;
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3)(a)-(m)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.2 provides that employees of a qualifying amusement or recreation business must be paid one and one-half times their regular compensation for hours over fifty-two in a one-week period.
Employees of an amusement or recreation business that meets the criteria set out in 29 U.S.C. 213(a)(3) must be paid one and one-half times their regular compensation for any hours worked in excess of fifty-two hours in any one-week period.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.2
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.3 provides that except for qualifying amusement or recreation employees, the Missouri forty-hour overtime requirement does not apply to employees exempt from federal minimum wage or overtime requirements.
With the exception of employees described in subsection (2), the overtime requirements of subsection (1) shall not apply to employees who are exempt from federal minimum wage or overtime requirements including, but not limited to, the exemptions or hour calculation formulas specified in 29 U.S.C. Sections 207 and 213, and any regulations promulgated thereunder.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.3
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.4 provides that unless the Minimum Wage Law provides otherwise, Missouri's overtime section is interpreted in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Portal to Portal Act and their regulations.
Except as may be otherwise provided under sections 290.500 to 290.530, this section shall be interpreted in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 201, et seq., as amended, and the Portal to Portal Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 251, et seq., as amended, and any regulations promulgated thereunder.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.4
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.010 provides that eight hours constitutes a legal day's work in Missouri, but parties to a contract for work may agree on a longer or shorter time.
From and after the first day of May, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the period of eight hours shall be and constitute a legal day's work; but nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent parties to any contract for work, services or labor from agreeing upon a longer or shorter time.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.010
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.010 provides that the eight-hour legal day section does not apply to persons hired by the month or to agricultural laborers and farm hands.
This section shall not apply to persons hired or employed by the month, nor to laborers or farm hands in the service of farmers or others engaged in agriculture.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.010
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.1(1) provides that Missouri's prevailing wage law requires that workers employed by or on behalf of a public body in the construction of public works, exclusive of maintenance work, be paid at least the prevailing hourly rate for similar work in the locality or the public works contracting minimum wage, whichever applies.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than the prevailing hourly rate of wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which the work is performed or the public works contracting minimum wage, whichever is applicable, shall be paid to all workers employed by or on behalf of any public body engaged in the construction of public works, exclusive of maintenance work.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.1(1)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.1(3)-(4) provides that Missouri's prevailing wage law requires overtime pay of at least one and one-half the prevailing hourly rate or the public works contracting minimum wage, whichever applies, for public works construction work over ten hours in one day or forty hours in one calendar week, and a thirty-minute lunch period each calendar day, not counted as time worked, for each public works worker.
(3) For all overtime work performed, not less than one and one-half the prevailing hourly rate of wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which the work is performed or the public works contracting minimum wage, whichever is applicable, shall be paid to all workers employed by or on behalf of any public body engaged in the construction of public works, exclusive of maintenance work or contractual obligation. For purposes of this subdivision, “overtime work” shall include work that exceeds ten hours in one day and work in excess of forty hours in one calendar week; and (4) A thirty-minute lunch period on each calendar day shall be allowed for each worker on a public works project, provided that such time shall not be considered as time worked.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.1(3)-(4)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.2 provides that under Missouri's prevailing wage law, only workers directly employed by contractors or subcontractors in actual on-site construction work are deemed employed upon public works.
Only workers that are directly employed by contractors or subcontractors in actual construction work on the site of the building or construction job shall be deemed to be employed upon public works.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.2
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.4 provides that workers hauling materials or equipment are deemed employed directly on public works when the hauling includes some phase of construction other than mere transportation to the site.
When the hauling of materials or equipment includes some phase of construction other than the mere transportation to the site of the construction, workers engaged in this dual capacity shall be deemed employed directly on public works.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.4
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.5(1) provides that Missouri's prevailing wage sections do not apply to the construction of public works whose engineer's estimate or accepted bid for the total project cost is seventy-five thousand dollars or less.
(1) The provisions of sections 290.210 to 290.340 shall not apply to the construction of public works for which either the engineer's estimate or the bid accepted by the public body for the total project cost is in the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars or less.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.5(1)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.7 provides that when a change order raises a public works project's total cost from seventy-five thousand dollars or less to more than seventy-five thousand dollars, Missouri's prevailing wage sections apply only to the portion of the project in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars.
For any public works project for which either the engineer's estimate or the bid accepted by the public body for the total project cost is in the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars or less that becomes subject to a change order that increases the total project cost in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars, the provisions of sections 290.210 to 290.340 shall apply only to that portion of the project that was in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.7
Are breaks required?
No Missouri statute generally requires employers to give workers aged sixteen or older meal periods or rest breaks. Under Missouri's child labor law, a child may not work more than three hours on a school day, eight hours on a nonschool day, or more than six days or forty hours in a week . The child labor chapter defines a child as an individual under sixteen years of age, unless otherwise specified .
No child under fourteen may be employed or permitted to work at any occupation at any time, except as the child labor chapter provides . A child's normal work hours may not begin before 7 a.m. or run past 9 p.m., except as the evening-hours subsection provides . The director may waive those limits in full or in part, in writing to the employer. The waiver exempts only the entertainment-industry employment that the child labor law covers in a separate section .
From Labor Day to June 1, a child may not work after 7 p.m. From June 1 to Labor Day, a child may not work after 9 p.m. A child who is past his or her fourteenth birthday but under sixteen may work at a regional fair from June 1 to Labor Day until 10:30 p.m., if supervised by an adult and with parental consent, but the regional fair exception does not apply to entities covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act . These evening limits do not apply to children who have been permanently excused from school .
Section 294.022 governs children employed in the entertainment industry, which it defines to include performers, extras and other performing roles in motion picture, television, radio, theatrical and modeling productions, horse shows, rodeos and musical performances, and no child may be employed in that industry without an entertainment work permit issued by the director . For children working in the entertainment industry, meal periods must last at least one-half hour and no more than one hour. Meal periods do not count toward the hours a child may be at the place of employment, and a child may not be there longer than five and one-half hours without a meal break . Such a child also receives a fifteen-minute rest period after each two hours of continuous work , and a twelve-hour rest break between the end of one workday and the start of the next for the same employment . Meal-break periods are not included in overall work time, but rest breaks are .
For workers on public works projects covered by Missouri's prevailing wage law, that law requires a thirty-minute lunch period on each calendar day for each worker, and that time is not counted as time worked . The prevailing wage sections do not apply to the construction of public works for which the engineer's estimate or the bid the public body accepted for the total project cost is seventy-five thousand dollars or less . When a change order raises the total project cost of such a project above seventy-five thousand dollars, those sections apply only to the portion of the project in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars .
Federal law is addressed in the federal wage and hour guide.
Sources for this answer
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.011(1) provides that for Missouri's child labor chapter, a child is an individual under sixteen years of age unless otherwise specified.
As used in this chapter, the following terms mean: (1) “Child”, an individual under sixteen years of age, unless otherwise specified; (2) “Commission”, the labor and industrial relations commission; (3) “Department”, the department of labor and industrial relations; (4) “Department director”, the director of the department of labor and industrial relations; (5) “Director”, the director of the division of labor standards; (6) “Division”, the division of labor standards;
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.011(1)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.1 provides that a child may not work more than three hours on a school day, eight hours on a nonschool day, or more than six days or forty hours in a week.
A child shall not be employed, permitted or suffered to work at any gainful employment for more than three hours per day in any school day, more than eight hours in any nonschool day, more than six days or forty hours in any week.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.1
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.021 provides that except as the child labor chapter provides, no child under fourteen may be employed or permitted to work at any occupation.
No child under fourteen years of age shall be employed or permitted to work at any occupation at any time; except as provided in this chapter.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.021
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.1 provides that a child's normal work hours may not begin before 7 a.m. or extend past 9 p.m., subject to the evening-hours subsection.
Normal work hours shall not begin before seven o'clock in the morning nor extend to after 9:00 p.m., except as provided in subsection 2 of this section.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.1
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.1 provides that the director may waive the child hour limits of subsection 1 in writing, in full or in part, but only for employment described in section 294.022.
The provisions of this subsection may be waived by the director, in full or in part, depending upon the nature of the employment. Such waiver shall be provided in writing to the employer by the director. The waiver shall only exempt employment described in section 294.022.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.1
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.2 provides that a child may not work after 7 p.m. from Labor Day to June 1 or after 9 p.m. from June 1 to Labor Day, with a limited regional-fair exception for children aged fourteen to sixteen that does not apply to entities covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
On all evenings from Labor Day to June first, a child shall not be employed, permitted or suffered to work at any gainful employment after 7:00 p.m. nor after 9:00 p.m. from June first to Labor Day; except that a child who has passed his or her fourteenth birthday but is under sixteen years of age may be employed at a regional fair from June first to Labor Day, if such child does not work after 10:30 p.m., is supervised by an adult, parental consent is given and the provisions of this subsection are complied with. The regional fair exception shall not apply to those entities covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.2
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.2 provides that the evening work limits for children do not apply to children permanently excused from school under chapter 167.
The provisions of this subsection do not apply to children who have been permanently excused from school pursuant to the provisions of chapter 167.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.030.2
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.1(1)-(2) provides that for section 294.022, the entertainment industry is any person or entity using a child as a performer, extra or in another performing capacity in motion picture, television, radio, theatrical or modeling productions, horse shows, rodeos and musical performances.
For the purposes of this section, the following terms mean: (1) “Employer”, any person, firm or corporation employing or seeking to employ a child in the entertainment industry; (2) “Entertainment industry”, any person, employer, firm or corporation using the services of a child as a performer, extra or in any other performing capacity in motion picture productions, television or radio productions, theatrical productions, modeling productions, horse shows, rodeos and musical performances;
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.1(1)-(2)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.2 provides that no child may be employed in the entertainment industry without an entertainment work permit issued by the director.
No child may be employed in the entertainment industry without an entertainment work permit issued by the director.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.2
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.5 provides that a child covered by this section must receive a meal period of one-half hour to one hour and may not be at the place of employment longer than five and one-half hours without a meal break.
All of the hours in which a child may be at the place of employment are exclusive of meal periods. Meal periods shall be at least one-half hour, but not more than one hour in duration. In no event may a child be at the place of employment for a period longer than five and one-half hours without a meal break.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.5
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022 provides that a child covered by this section must receive a fifteen-minute rest period after each two hours of continuous work.
A child shall also receive a fifteen minute rest period after each two hours of continuous work.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.6 provides that a child covered by this section must receive a twelve-hour rest break between the end of one workday and the start of the next workday for the same employment.
A child shall receive a twelve-hour rest break at the end of the child's work day and prior to the commencement of the child's next day of work for the same employment.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.6
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.8 provides that for a child covered by this section, meal-break periods are excluded from overall work time while rest breaks are included in it.
Periods for meal breaks shall not be included in the overall work time; however, rest breaks shall be included in the overall work time.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 294.022.8
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.1(3)-(4) provides that Missouri's prevailing wage law requires a thirty-minute lunch period on each calendar day for each worker on a public works project, and that time is not considered time worked.
(3) For all overtime work performed, not less than one and one-half the prevailing hourly rate of wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which the work is performed or the public works contracting minimum wage, whichever is applicable, shall be paid to all workers employed by or on behalf of any public body engaged in the construction of public works, exclusive of maintenance work or contractual obligation. For purposes of this subdivision, “overtime work” shall include work that exceeds ten hours in one day and work in excess of forty hours in one calendar week; and (4) A thirty-minute lunch period on each calendar day shall be allowed for each worker on a public works project, provided that such time shall not be considered as time worked.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.1(3)-(4)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.5(1) provides that Missouri's prevailing wage sections, including the public works lunch-period rule, do not apply to the construction of public works whose engineer's estimate or accepted bid for the total project cost is seventy-five thousand dollars or less.
(1) The provisions of sections 290.210 to 290.340 shall not apply to the construction of public works for which either the engineer's estimate or the bid accepted by the public body for the total project cost is in the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars or less.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.5(1)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.7 provides that when a change order raises a public works project's total cost from seventy-five thousand dollars or less to more than seventy-five thousand dollars, Missouri's prevailing wage sections apply only to the portion of the project in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars.
For any public works project for which either the engineer's estimate or the bid accepted by the public body for the total project cost is in the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars or less that becomes subject to a change order that increases the total project cost in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars, the provisions of sections 290.210 to 290.340 shall apply only to that portion of the project that was in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.230.7
When is final pay due?
When a Missouri employer discharges an employee or refuses to employ the employee further, the employee's unpaid earned wages become due on the day of the discharge or refusal, with an exception for certain commissioned employees . That exception covers an employee paid primarily by commission whose duties include collecting accounts, caring for stock or merchandise, or similar activities, where an audit is necessary or customary to determine the net amount due . The wages are owed at the contract rate, without abatement or deduction .
The employee may ask a foreman or timekeeper, in writing, to send the money or a valid check to any station or office where a regular agent is kept. If it does not arrive within seven days of the request, the employee's wages continue as a penalty from the date of discharge, at the same rate, until paid. The penalty runs for no more than sixty days . The section addresses discharge or refusal to further employ. Section 290.110 does not state a deadline for employees who quit .
An employee who hides or stays away to avoid payment, or refuses payment that is fully tendered, loses the benefit of these provisions for the time payment is avoided .
An employee hired for a definite period and discharged without cause before that period ends may also sue for damages caused by the wrongful discharge, and may join that claim with the claim for unpaid wages and penalty .
A corporation doing business in Missouri with seven or more employees has a service-letter duty. It applies when an employee with at least ninety days of service is discharged or quits and, within a reasonable time but no later than one year from the date the employee was discharged or quit, sends a written request by certified mail to the corporation's superintendent, manager or registered agent that specifically refers to the statute. Within forty-five days of receiving the request, the corporation must issue a signed letter stating the nature, character and duration of the service and truly stating the cause, if any, for the discharge or quitting . A corporation that violates this duty is liable for compensatory but not punitive damages. If it issued no letter at all, it may be liable for nominal and punitive damages, but punitive damages may not be based on the content of a letter .
Sources for this answer
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.110 provides that when an employer doing business in Missouri discharges or refuses to further employ an employee, the employee's earned wages are due that day, and if payment does not reach the requested station or office within seven days of a written request, wages continue at the same rate until paid, for no more than sixty days.
Whenever any person, firm or corporation doing business in this state shall discharge, with or without cause, or refuse to further employ any servant or employee thereof, the unpaid wages of the servant or employee then earned at the contract rate, without abatement or deduction, shall be and become due and payable on the day of the discharge or refusal to longer employ and the servant or employee may request in writing of his foreman or the keeper of his time to have the money due him, or a valid check therefor, sent to any station or office where a regular agent is kept; and if the money or a valid check therefor, does not reach the station or office within seven days from the date it is so requested, then as a penalty for such nonpayment the wages of the servant or employee shall continue from the date of the discharge or refusal to further employ, at the same rate until paid; provided, such wages shall not continue more than sixty days.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.110
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.110 provides that the final-pay rule does not apply to a primarily commissioned employee whose duties include collections or care of stock or merchandise and whose net pay requires an audit.
This section shall not apply in the case of an employee whose remuneration for work is based primarily on commissions and whose duties include collection of accounts, care of a stock or merchandise and similar activities and where an audit is necessary or customary in order to determine the net amount due.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.110
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.120 provides that an employee who avoids payment or refuses a full tender of final wages loses the benefit of the final-pay provisions for the time payment is avoided.
No such servant or employee who secretes or absents himself to avoid payment to him, or refuses to receive the same when fully tendered, shall be entitled to any benefit under sections 290.110 and 290.120 for such time as he so avoids payment.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.120
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.130 provides that an employee hired for a definite period and discharged without cause before it ends may sue for wrongful-discharge damages in addition to the final-pay penalty.
Any such servant or employee whose employment is for a definite period of time, and who is discharged without cause before the expiration of such time, may, in addition to the penalty prescribed by this law, have an action against any such employer for any damages he may have sustained by reason of such wrongful discharge, and such action may be joined with an action for unpaid wages and penalty.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.130
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.140.1 provides that a corporation doing business in Missouri with seven or more employees must, within forty-five days of a timely certified-mail request from a former employee with at least ninety days of service, issue a signed letter describing the service and truly stating the cause, if any, of separation.
Whenever any employee of any corporation doing business in this state and which employs seven or more employees, who shall have been in the service of said corporation for a period of at least ninety days, shall be discharged or voluntarily quit the service of such corporation and who thereafter within a reasonable period of time, but not later than one year following the date the employee was discharged or voluntarily quit, requests in writing by certified mail to the superintendent, manager or registered agent of said corporation, with specific reference to the statute, it shall be the duty of the superintendent or manager of said corporation to issue to such employee, within forty-five days after the receipt of such request, a letter, duly signed by such superintendent or manager, setting forth the nature and character of service rendered by such employee to such corporation and the duration thereof, and truly stating for what cause, if any, such employee was discharged or voluntarily quit such service.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.140.1
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.140.2 provides that a corporation that violates the service-letter duty is liable for compensatory damages, and for nominal and punitive damages only if it issued no letter, with punitive damages never based on a letter's content.
Any corporation which violates the provisions of subsection 1 of this section shall be liable for compensatory but not punitive damages but in the event that the evidence establishes that the employer did not issue the requested letter, said employer may be liable for nominal and punitive damages; but no award of punitive damages under this section shall be based upon the content of any such letter.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.140.2
How often must workers be paid?
Missouri corporations, and persons operating railroads or railroad shops in the state, must pay employees at least semimonthly, within sixteen days of the close of each payroll period, subject to a monthly-pay option for some employees . At the employer's option, executive, administrative and professional employees, and salespeople and others paid wholly or partly on commission, may be paid monthly .
At least once a month, these same employers must give each employee a statement showing the total amount of deductions for the period. The statement may be part of the check, draft or voucher, or it may be separate . A corporation or person that violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, faces a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each offense .
Operators of manufactories in Missouri, including plate glass manufactories, must pay employees in full, in lawful money, at least once every fifteen days. On any payday they may hold back no more than the employee's earnings for the five days just before it . An operator that fails and refuses to pay as required becomes liable to the employee for double the sum due, recoverable in a civil action. An employee does not waive these rights by signing a contrary contract .
A railway, mining, express, telegraph, manufacturing or other company or corporation doing business in Missouri that wants to reduce wages must give the affected employees thirty days' notice . The notice may be given by posting a written or printed handbill, naming the class of employees whose wages are to be reduced and the amount of the reduction, in a conspicuous place where those employees work, or by mailing each employee a copy . A company or corporation that violates the section forfeits and pays each affected party fifty dollars, recoverable by civil action with costs .
Every employer subject to the Minimum Wage Law must keep records for at least three years. The records must show each employee's name, address and occupation, rate of pay, amount paid each pay period, hours worked each day and each workweek, and any goods or services the employer provides to the employee as wages . Records kept outside Missouri must be made available to the director on demand. Records and information obtained by the department of labor and industrial relations are confidential and may be disclosed only on a court order .
Sources for this answer
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.080 provides that corporations doing business in Missouri and persons operating railroads or railroad shops there must pay employees at least semimonthly within sixteen days of the close of each payroll period, with an optional monthly schedule for exempt-type and commissioned employees.
All corporations doing business in this state, and all persons operating railroads or railroad shops in this state, shall pay the wages and salaries of their employees as often as semimonthly, within sixteen days of the close of each payroll period; provided, however, that executive, administrative and professional employees, and sales people and other employees compensated in whole or in part on a commission basis, at the option of such employers, may be paid their salaries or commissions monthly.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.080
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.080 provides that corporations and railroad operators covered by section 290.080 must give each employee at least monthly a statement of the total deductions for the period.
Such corporations and persons either as a part of the check, draft or other voucher paying the wages or separately, shall furnish the employee at least once a month a statement showing the total amount of deductions for the period.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.080
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.080 provides that a corporation or person violating section 290.080 commits a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of fifty to five hundred dollars per offense.
Any corporation or person violating this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, for each offense.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.080
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.090 provides that operators of Missouri manufactories must pay employees in full at least once every fifteen days, withholding no more than five days of earnings on any payday.
The employees of the operators of all manufactories, including plate glass manufactories, operated within this state shall be regularly paid in full of all wages due them at least once in every fifteen days, in lawful money, and at no pay day shall there be withheld from the earnings of any employee any sum to exceed the amount due him for his labor for five days next preceding any such pay day.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.090
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.090 provides that a manufactory operator that fails and refuses to pay wages as required is liable for double the sum due, and an employee's contrary contract does not waive that right.
Any such operator who fails and refuses to pay his employees, their agents, assigns or anyone duly authorized to collect such wages, as in this section provided, shall become immediately liable to any such employee, his agents or assigns for an amount double the sum due such employee at the time of such failure to pay the wages due, to be recovered by civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction within this state, and no employee, within the meaning of this section, shall be deemed to have waived any right accruing to him under this section by any contract he may make contrary to the provisions hereof.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.090
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.100 provides that a railway, mining, express, telegraph, manufacturing or other company or corporation doing business in Missouri must give affected employees thirty days' notice before reducing their wages.
Any railway, mining, express, telegraph, manufacturing or other company or corporation doing business in this state, and desiring to reduce the wages of its employees, or any of them, shall give to the employees to be affected thereby thirty days' notice thereof.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.100
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.100 provides that a wage-reduction notice may be given by conspicuously posting a handbill naming the affected class and the amount of the reduction or by mailing each employee a copy, and a company or corporation violating the section forfeits fifty dollars to each affected party, recoverable by civil action.
Such notice may be given by posting a written or printed handbill, specifying the class of employees whose wages are to be reduced and the amount of the reduction, in a conspicuous place in or about the shops, station, office, depot or other place where said employees may be at work, or by mailing each employee a copy of said notice or handbill, and such company or corporation violating any of the provisions of this section shall forfeit and pay each party affected thereby the sum of fifty dollars, to be recovered by civil action in the name of the injured party, with costs, before any court of competent jurisdiction.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.100
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.520 provides that every employer subject to the Minimum Wage Law must keep, for at least three years, records of each employee's identity, occupation, pay rate, pay per period, daily and weekly hours, and goods or services provided as wages.
Every employer subject to any provision of sections 290.500 to 290.530 or any regulation issued under sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall make and keep for a period of not less than three years on or about the premises wherein any employee is employed or at some other premises which is suitable to the employer, a record of the name, address and occupation of each of his employees, the rate of pay, the amount paid each pay period to each employee, the hours worked each day and each workweek by the employee and any goods or services provided by the employer to the employee as provided in section 290.512.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.520
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.520 provides that Minimum Wage Law records kept outside Missouri must be made available to the director on demand, and records the department obtains are confidential absent a court order.
Where the records required under this section are kept outside the state, the records shall be made available to the director upon demand. Every such employer shall furnish to the director on demand a sworn statement of time records and information upon forms prescribed or approved by the director. All the records and information obtained by the department of labor and industrial relations are confidential and shall be disclosed only on order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.520
Employee or independent contractor?
In Karnes v. Happy Trails RV Park, LLC, a federal court applying Missouri's wage and hour law treated employee status under that law the same as under the Fair Labor Standards Act, because the Missouri law is generally interpreted in accordance with the federal act . The court weighed six factors: the degree of control the alleged employer exercised over the business operations, the relative investments of the alleged employer and employee, the degree to which the employer determined the worker's opportunity for profit and loss, the skill and initiative the job required, the permanency of the relationship, and the degree to which the worker's tasks were integral to the employer's business . The court described those factors as only a guide, explaining that the economic reality of the situation, not any technical concept, determines the outcome .
Missouri's Minimum Wage Law defines an employee as any individual employed by an employer, subject to listed exclusions, and its definitions do not themselves state a multi-factor or control test . Under the same law, an employer includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee. A wage is compensation due to an employee because of the employment, payable in United States legal tender or in checks convertible into cash on demand at full face value . Unless the Minimum Wage Law provides otherwise, its overtime section is interpreted in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Portal to Portal Act and their regulations . Federal law is addressed in the federal wage and hour guide.
Missouri's employment security law takes a different approach. Under that law, service performed for pay is deemed employment unless the division is satisfied that an independent contractor performed it . For that law only, the common law of agency right to control test treats the individual as an employee if the alleged employer keeps the right to control the manner and means of accomplishing the results . If only the results are controlled, the individual is an independent contractor .
Missouri's workers' compensation chapter defines an employee as every person in the service of an employer under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, or under any appointment or election, including executive officers of corporations .
A separate misclassification law applies only to employers that have or had five or more individuals performing public works. Under that law, an employee is an individual whose services indicate an employer-employee relationship under the factors in Internal Revenue Service Revenue Ruling 87-41 . An employer knowingly misclassifies a worker if it fails to claim the worker as an employee while knowing the worker is one . If a court finds knowing misclassification, it must enter judgment for the state and award penalties of fifty dollars per day per misclassified worker, up to fifty thousand dollars .
Sources for this answer
*Karnes v. Happy Trails RV Park, LLC* states that the Missouri Wage and Hour Law is generally interpreted in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and treats the plaintiffs' federal and Missouri wage claims as the same.
The MWHL is generally interpreted in accordance with the FLSA, and for the purposes of this order, the Court will treat Plaintiffs' FLSA claims and MWHL claims as if they were the same.
See *Karnes v. Happy Trails RV Park, LLC*, 361 F. Supp. 3d 921 (W.D. Mo. 2019).
*Karnes v. Happy Trails RV Park, LLC* lists six factors for deciding whether an employee-employer relationship exists: control over the business operations, relative investments, employer-determined opportunity for profit and loss, skill and initiative, permanency of the relationship, and how integral the tasks are to the employer's business.
They are: (1) the degree of control exercised by the alleged employer over the business operations; (2) the relative investments of the alleged employer and employee; (3) the degree to which the employee's opportunity for profit and loss is determined by the employer; (4) the skill and initiative required in performing the job; (5) the permanency of the relationship; and (6) the degree to which the alleged employee's tasks are integral to the employer's business.
See *Karnes v. Happy Trails RV Park, LLC*, 361 F. Supp. 3d 921 (W.D. Mo. 2019).
*Karnes v. Happy Trails RV Park, LLC* explains that the six factors are only a guide and that an assessment of the economic reality of the situation, not any technical concept, determines the court's decision.
The Court is mindful that these six factors are only a guide, and that it is ultimately an assessment of the economic reality of the situation at bar, and not any technical concept, that will determine its decision.
See *Karnes v. Happy Trails RV Park, LLC*, 361 F. Supp. 3d 921 (W.D. Mo. 2019).
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3) defines an employee as any individual employed by an employer, subject to listed exclusions, without stating a multi-factor or control test.
(3) “Employee”, any individual employed by an employer, except that the term “employee” shall not include: (a) Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity; (b) Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist or where the services rendered to the organization are on a voluntary basis;
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(4), (7) provides that the Minimum Wage Law defines an employer as any person acting directly or indirectly in an employer's interest in relation to an employee, and a wage as compensation due by reason of employment payable in legal tender or cash-convertible checks.
(4) “Employer”, any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee; (5) “Learner and apprentice”, any individual under 20 years of age who has not completed the required training for a particular job. In no event shall the individual be deemed a learner or apprentice in the occupation after three months of training except where the director finds, after investigation, that for the particular occupation a minimum of proficiency cannot be acquired in three months. In no case shall a person be declared to be a learner or apprentice after six months of training for a particular employer or job. Employees of an amusement or recreation business that meets the criteria set out in 29 U.S.C. § 213(a) (3) may be deemed a learner or apprentice for ninety working days. No individual shall be deemed a learner or apprentice solely for the purpose of evading the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530; (6) “Occupation”, any occupation, service, trade, business, industry, or branch or group of industries or employment or class of employment in which individuals are gainfully employed; (7) “Wage”, compensation due to an employee by reason of his employment, payable in legal tender of the United States or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at full face value;
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(4), (7)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.4 provides that unless the Minimum Wage Law provides otherwise, its overtime section is interpreted in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Portal to Portal Act and their regulations.
Except as may be otherwise provided under sections 290.500 to 290.530, this section shall be interpreted in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 201, et seq., as amended, and the Portal to Portal Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 251, et seq., as amended, and any regulations promulgated thereunder.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.505.4
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 288.034.5 provides that under the employment security law, service performed for remuneration is deemed employment unless the division is satisfied that an independent contractor performed it.
Service performed by an individual for remuneration shall be deemed to be employment subject to this law unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the division that such services were performed by an independent contractor.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 288.034.5
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 288.034.5 provides that under the employment security law's right to control test, an individual is an employee if the alleged employer retains the right to control the manner and means of accomplishing the results.
The common law of agency right to control test shall include but not be limited to: if the alleged employer retains the right to control the manner and means by which the results are to be accomplished, the individual who performs the service is an employee.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 288.034.5
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 288.034.5 provides that under the employment security law, an individual whose work is controlled only as to results is an independent contractor.
If only the results are controlled, the individual performing the service is an independent contractor.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 288.034.5
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 287.020.1 provides that for workers' compensation, an employee is every person in an employer's service under any contract of hire or any appointment or election, including corporate executive officers.
The word “employee” as used in this chapter shall be construed to mean every person in the service of any employer, as defined in this chapter, under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, or under any appointment or election, including executive officers of corporations.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 287.020.1
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.500(1)-(2) defines an employee for the public-works misclassification law by the factors in IRS Revenue Ruling 87-41 and covers employers that have or had five or more individuals performing public works.
For the purposes of sections 285.500 to 285.515 the following terms mean: (1) “Employee”, any individual who performs services for an employer that would indicate an employer-employee relationship in satisfaction of the factors in IRS Rev. Rule 87-41, 1987-1 C.B.296.; (2) “Employer”, any individual, organization, partnership, political subdivision, corporation, or other legal entity which has or had in the entity's employ five or more individuals performing public works as defined in section 290.210;
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.500(1)-(2)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.503 provides that under the public-works misclassification law, an employer knowingly misclassifies a worker if it fails to claim the worker as an employee while knowing the worker is an employee.
An employer knowingly misclassifies a worker if that employer fails to claim the worker as an employee but knows that the worker is an employee.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.503
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.515 provides that on finding knowing misclassification, a court must enter judgment for the state with penalties of fifty dollars per day per misclassified worker, capped at fifty thousand dollars.
If a court determines that an employer has knowingly misclassified a worker, the court shall enter a judgment in favor of the state and award penalties in the amount of fifty dollars per day per misclassified worker up to a maximum of fifty thousand dollars.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.515
Is a tip credit allowed?
Missouri employers may pay tipped employees as little as fifty percent of the minimum wage rate, which the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations puts at $7.50 an hour, but total compensation must reach at least the minimum wage . The employer makes up any difference .
Sources for this answer
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.512.1 provides that an employer of a tipped employee need not pay wages above fifty percent of the minimum wage rate, provided the employer makes up any shortfall so total compensation reaches the minimum wage.
No employer of any employee who receives and retains compensation in the form of gratuities in addition to wages is required to pay wages in excess of fifty percent of the minimum wage rate specified in sections 290.500 to 290.530, however, total compensation for such employee shall total at least the minimum wage specified in sections 290.500 to 290.530, the difference being made up by the employer.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.512.1
The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations states that employers subject to the law must pay tipped employees at least fifty percent of the $15.00 minimum wage, or $7.50 per hour.
Employers subject to the provisions of the law are required to pay tipped employees at least 50 percent of the minimum wage of $15.00, or $7.50 per hour.
See Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, What amount must an employer pay a tipped employee?
How is it enforced?
A Missouri employer that pays an employee less than the Minimum Wage Law requires is liable for the full wage plus twice the unpaid wages as liquidated damages, less amounts paid, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees .
The employee may bring any legal action necessary to collect the claim . An agreement between employee and employer to work for less than the wage rate is no defense . Actions to collect a wage deficiency must be started within three years after the cause of action accrues .
Under the Minimum Wage Law, the director has authority to investigate and ascertain the wages of persons employed in any occupation the law covers .
Under the Minimum Wage Law, an employer commits a class C misdemeanor if it hinders the director's enforcement through any of the listed acts. Those acts are refusing the director entry, failing to keep or falsifying required records, refusing access to records or a sworn statement, and failing to post the required summary. They also include discharging or discriminating against an employee who notified the director of unpaid wages, started a proceeding, or testified or is about to testify in one . The list also covers paying or agreeing to pay less than the applicable rate, where each week or part of a week is a separate offense as to each employee, and otherwise violating the law , where each day is a separate offense .
Records required under the Minimum Wage Law must be open to the director's inspection by appointment . On demand, each employer must give the director a sworn statement of time records on forms the director prescribes or approves . Every employer subject to the law must keep a director-approved summary of the law, along with copies or a summary of applicable wage regulations, posted in a conspicuous and accessible place where employees work .
Missouri's older wage payment statutes carry their own consequences. A violation of the semimonthly payday and deduction-statement section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of fifty to five hundred dollars per offense . A manufactory operator that fails and refuses to pay as required owes the employee double the sum due, recoverable by civil action .
Under the public-works misclassification law, the attorney general is authorized to investigate suspected violations and to serve and enforce subpoenas . The attorney general may also seek an injunction in the circuit court of any county where a violation is occurring or about to occur , and may enter into consent judgments with alleged violators .
Sources for this answer
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.527 provides that an employer that underpays wages owed under the Minimum Wage Law is liable for the full wage plus liquidated damages of twice the unpaid wages, less amounts paid, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees.
Any employer who pays any employee less wages than the wages to which the employee is entitled under or by virtue of sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall be liable to the employee affected for the full amount of the wage rate and an additional amount equal to twice the unpaid wages as liquidated damages, less any amount actually paid to the employee by the employer and for costs and such reasonable attorney fees as may be allowed by the court or jury.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.527
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.527 provides that an underpaid employee may bring any legal action necessary to collect a Minimum Wage Law claim.
The employee may bring any legal action necessary to collect the claim.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.527
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.527 provides that an employee's agreement to work for less than the required wage rate is no defense to a Minimum Wage Law action.
Any agreement between the employee and the employer to work for less than the wage rate shall be no defense to the action.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.527
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.527 provides that an action to collect a wage deficiency under the Minimum Wage Law must be commenced within three years of accrual.
All actions for the collection of any deficiency in wages shall be commenced within three years of the accrual of the cause of action.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.527
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.510 provides that the director has authority to investigate and ascertain the wages of persons employed in any occupation covered by the Minimum Wage Law.
The director shall have authority to investigate and ascertain the wages of persons employed in any occupation included within the meaning of sections 290.500 to 290.530.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.510
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.525(1)-(9) provides that an employer that hinders the director's enforcement of the Minimum Wage Law by any listed act, including retaliation against a complaining or testifying employee and underpayment, is guilty of a class C misdemeanor.
Any employer who hinders the director in the performance of his duties in the enforcement of sections 290.500 to 290.530 by any of the following acts is guilty of a class C misdemeanor: (1) Refusing to admit the director to any place of employment; (2) Failing to make, keep and preserve any records as required under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530; (3) Falsifying any record required under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530; (4) Refusing to make any record required under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530 accessible to the director; (5) Refusing to furnish a sworn statement of any record required under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530 or any other information required for the proper enforcement of sections 290.500 to 290.530 to the director upon demand; (6) Failing to post a summary of sections 290.500 to 290.530 or a copy of any applicable regulation as required; (7) Discharging or in any other manner discriminating against any employee who has notified the director that he has not been paid wages in accordance with the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530, or who has caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to sections 290.500 to 290.530, or who has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding; (8) Paying or agreeing to pay wages at a rate less than the rate applicable under sections 290.500 to 290.530. Payment at such rate for any week or portion of a week constitutes a separate offense as to each employee; (9) Otherwise violating any provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.525(1)-(9)
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.525 provides that under the Minimum Wage Law's misdemeanor provision, each day of violation constitutes a separate offense.
Each day of violation constitutes a separate offense.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.525
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.520 provides that records required under the Minimum Wage Law must be open to inspection by the director by appointment.
The records shall be open for inspection by the director by appointment.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.520
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.520 provides that an employer subject to the Minimum Wage Law must furnish the director on demand a sworn statement of time records on director-approved forms.
Every such employer shall furnish to the director on demand a sworn statement of time records and information upon forms prescribed or approved by the director.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.520
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.522 provides that every employer subject to the Minimum Wage Law must keep a director-approved summary of the law and the applicable wage regulations, or a summary of them, posted conspicuously where employees work.
Every employer subject to any provision of sections 290.500 to 290.530 or of any regulations issued under sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall keep a summary of sections 290.500 to 290.530, approved by the director, and copies of any applicable wage regulations issued under sections 290.500 to 290.530, or a summary of the wage regulations posted in a conspicuous and accessible place in or about the premises wherein any person subject thereto is employed.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.522
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.080 provides that violating the wage payment statute on semimonthly paydays and deduction statements is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of fifty to five hundred dollars per offense.
Any corporation or person violating this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, for each offense.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.080
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.090 provides that a manufactory operator that fails and refuses to pay wages as the statute requires is liable to the employee, in a civil action, for double the sum due.
Any such operator who fails and refuses to pay his employees, their agents, assigns or anyone duly authorized to collect such wages, as in this section provided, shall become immediately liable to any such employee, his agents or assigns for an amount double the sum due such employee at the time of such failure to pay the wages due, to be recovered by civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction within this state, and no employee, within the meaning of this section, shall be deemed to have waived any right accruing to him under this section by any contract he may make contrary to the provisions hereof.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.090
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.503.2 provides that the attorney general may investigate suspected violations of the public-works misclassification law and may serve and enforce related subpoenas.
The attorney general may investigate alleged or suspected violations of sections 285.500 to 285.515 and shall have all powers provided by sections 407.040 to 407.090 in connection with any investigation of an alleged or suspected violation of sections 285.500 to 285.515 as if the acts enumerated in sections 285.500 to 285.515 are unlawful acts proscribed by chapter 407. The attorney general may serve and enforce subpoenas related to the enforcement of sections 285.500 to 285.515.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.503.2
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.512 provides that the attorney general may seek an injunction in circuit court against an employer believed to be violating the public-works misclassification law.
Whenever the attorney general has reason to believe that an employer is engaging in any conduct that would be a violation of sections 285.500 to 285.515, the attorney general may seek an injunction prohibiting the employer from engaging in such conduct. The attorney general may bring an action for injunctive relief in the circuit court of any county where the alleged violation is occurring or about to occur.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.512
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.515 provides that the attorney general may enter into a consent judgment with a person alleged to have violated the public-works misclassification law.
The attorney general may enter into a consent judgment with any person alleged to have violated sections 285.500 to 285.515.
See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.515