Paid Sick Leave Requirements in Missouri
At a glance
| Governing law and local interaction | No current statewide private-employer mandate. Proposition A's §§ 290.600-.642 scheme began accrual May 1, 2025, then was repealed effective August 28, 2025. Section 290.528 preempts local private-employer benefit mandates above state law, expressly including paid or unpaid sick leave; its employer definition excludes public employers. |
|---|---|
| Employer and employee coverage | Not applicable after the August 28, 2025 repeal — there is no current statewide paid-sick-leave employer-size threshold, employee work test, or covered/excluded class. Section 290.528's local-benefit preemption applies to private employers and excludes public employers. |
| Accrual and annual entitlement | Not applicable after repeal — no current statutory accrual rate, annual entitlement, waiting period, or alternative accrual method. Former § 290.603 began accrual May 1, 2025, but that section is now repealed. |
| Frontloading, caps, and carryover | Not applicable after repeal — no current statutory frontloading rule, annual use cap, bank cap, carryover requirement, or PTO-substitute standard under the former scheme. |
| Qualifying uses and family | Not applicable after repeal — no current statewide paid-sick-leave use list or covered-family definition under the former scheme. |
| Requests, notice, documentation, and increments | Not applicable after repeal — no current statutory request method, notice standard, replacement-worker rule, documentation limit, confidentiality rule, or minimum use increment under the former scheme. |
| Pay, payout, reinstatement, and records | Not applicable after repeal — no current statutory paid-leave rate, separation payout rule, rehire restoration, balance statement, or recordkeeping duty under the former scheme. |
| Posting, retaliation, enforcement, and remedies | Not applicable after repeal — the former notice, posting, retaliation, enforcement, criminal-penalty, and private-action provisions were among the §§ 290.600-.642 provisions repealed by H.B. 567. |
How paid sick leave works in Missouri
Missouri currently has no statewide law requiring an ordinary private employer to provide paid sick leave or general earned paid leave. Proposition A created an earned-paid-sick-time scheme at §§ 290.600-.642. Former § 290.603 said accrual would begin at employment or May 1, 2025, whichever was later. The current Revisor page now states: “290.603. (Repealed L. 2025 H.B. 567, et al.),” effective August 28, 2025. H.B. 567's enacting clause repealed every section of that scheme and enacted only a replacement § 290.502.
Missouri also preempts a general local mandate for private employers. Section 290.528 defines “employment benefits” to include paid or unpaid sick leave and leave policies, then bars a political subdivision from requiring benefits above state law. The section's employer definition expressly excludes public employers, so that preemption rule should not be extended to a local government's own workforce.
What trips people up
A 2025 summary may be historically accurate but no longer current. The former law did begin accrual May 1, 2025. It was then repealed effective August 28, 2025. Do not apply its former accrual, cap, carryover, use, proof, or remedy rules to current work.
The repeal does not decide every claim tied to the short 2025 window. This page answers the current statewide requirement. A dispute about leave accrued, used, denied, or paid while the former law operated requires a separate review of the dates, facts, and any preserved rights or defenses.
Local preemption has a public-employer boundary. Section 290.528 blocks political subdivisions from imposing greater employment benefits on the private employers covered by its definition. That definition excludes public employers.
Separate obligations can still matter. Repeal of this specific statewide scheme does not itself decide an employer's obligations under a contract, collective bargaining agreement, voluntary benefit policy, or another state or federal law.
The 2026 ballot proposal did not qualify. Initiative Petition 2026-047 would have reinstated an earned-paid-sick-time rule and allowed higher local standards. The Secretary of State's complete list of measures certified for the November 3, 2026 election contains only Amendments 3, 7, and 8, and the preliminary county-signature report identifies only Initiative Petition 2026-106. Initiative Petition 2026-047 therefore will not appear on the 2026 ballot and is not current law.
Common questions
Does a Missouri private employer currently have to provide paid sick leave?
No. The statewide earned-paid-sick-time scheme was repealed effective August 28, 2025.
When did Missouri's former mandate operate?
Former § 290.603 began accrual May 1, 2025. The current Revisor page marks the section repealed effective August 28, 2025.
Can a Missouri city require private employers to provide paid sick leave?
Not as a general private-employer benefit mandate above state law. Section 290.528 expressly includes sick leave within preempted “employment benefits.” Its employer definition excludes public employers.
Do the former Proposition A accrual and carryover rules still apply now?
No. Those rules were part of the repealed §§ 290.600-.642 scheme. A historical claim arising while the scheme operated requires separate analysis.
Statutes and sources
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.603. The current official page marks the section repealed effective August 28, 2025. Missouri Revisor (accessed July 22, 2026).
- HCS No. 2 for H.B. 567 (2025). The act's title and Section A list and repeal §§ 290.600, .603, .606, .609, .612, .615, .618, .621, .624, .627, .630, .633, .636, .639, and .642. Missouri House of Representatives (accessed July 22, 2026).
- Former Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.603. The historical official version stated that accrual began at employment or May 1, 2025, whichever was later. Missouri Revisor (accessed July 22, 2026).
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.528. Defines employment benefits to include paid or unpaid sick leave and leave policies, preempts greater local benefit mandates, and excludes public employers from its employer definition. Missouri Revisor (accessed July 22, 2026).
- Missouri Secretary of State, 2026 petition and ballot pages. The circulation page lists Initiative Petition 2026-047, but the complete November certified-measures page contains only Amendments 3, 7, and 8, and the preliminary signature-review page identifies only Initiative Petition 2026-106. Circulation, certified ballot measures, and preliminary signature reports (accessed August 21, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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