Employee Handbook - Missouri

EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK

State of Missouri

[COMPANY LEGAL NAME]

Effective Date: [__/__/____]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Handbook Status and Administration
2. Equal Employment and Accommodation
3. Wage, Hour, Payroll, Break, and PTO Policies
4. Protected Leave and Absences
5. Safety, Workers' Compensation, Substance, and Weapons Policies
6. Technology, Privacy, Confidentiality, and Protected Activity
7. Attendance, Conduct, and Corrective Action
8. Separation of Employment
9. Administration and Acknowledgment

1. HANDBOOK STATUS AND ADMINISTRATION

1.1 Purpose and Scope

This Handbook states the general policies of [Company Legal Name] (the “Company”) for employees working in Missouri. It must be completed for the Company's workforce, locations, industry, benefits, government-contract obligations, and any collective bargaining agreement before distribution.

1.2 Not a Contract; Employment Relationship

This Handbook is not an employment contract, a promise of employment for a fixed term, or a guarantee that any particular corrective-action step will be used. Unless a signed agreement, collective bargaining agreement, or applicable law provides otherwise, either the employee or the Company may end employment at any time. Only [AUTHORIZED TITLE] may sign an agreement changing that relationship.

1.3 Reporting Channels and Anti-Retaliation

An employee may report a concern orally or in writing to [SUPERVISOR], [HR CONTACT], or [ALTERNATE/ETHICS CONTACT], and may bypass anyone involved in the concern. The Company will respond promptly and impartially and prohibits retaliation for good-faith reports, accommodation requests, wage complaints, protected leave, jury service, voting leave, safety or injury reports, participation in an investigation, military service, or other legally protected conduct.

1.4 Definitions and Coverage Review

“Employee” means an individual employed by the Company, whether full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal. A statute or benefit plan may use a different eligibility definition.

“Workweek” means the fixed seven-day period beginning at [DAY/TIME] and ending at [DAY/TIME] for payroll and overtime purposes.

Complete before issue:

• Six or more employees for Missouri Human Rights Act employer review: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Twenty or more employees for Missouri domestic- and sexual-violence leave review: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Fifty or more employees for the two-workweek Missouri violence-leave tier and private-employer FMLA review: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Five or more employees for general workers' compensation review: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• One or more employees in construction for workers' compensation review: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Corporation with seven or more employees for service-letter procedures: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Employees under age eighteen: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Collective bargaining agreement applies: ☐ Yes ☐ No

Human Resources must separately review every municipal ordinance applicable to an employee's work location. This state template does not substitute for a local overlay.

2. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT AND ACCOMMODATION

2.1 Equal Employment Opportunity

The Company prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other status protected by Company policy or applicable law.

The Missouri Human Rights Act's employment provisions generally cover qualifying employers with six or more employees and identify race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age as statutorily defined, and disability. Federal and local laws may apply different coverage thresholds and protect additional classifications.

2.2 Complaint Procedure

Employees should report discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or an accommodation need to [HR CONTACT] or [ALTERNATE CONTACT]. Reports will be addressed promptly and as confidentially as reasonably possible. Employees may contact a government agency or pursue another protected remedy without first exhausting this internal process.

2.3 Disability, Religion, and Pregnancy Accommodation

The Company will engage in an appropriate interactive process and provide reasonable accommodation when required for disability, religion, pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. Under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a covered employer will not require leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided.

2.4 Lactation Break and Space

For one year after a child's birth, the Company will provide reasonable break time whenever a covered employee needs to express breast milk and a private place other than a bathroom, shielded from view and free from intrusion. Time is paid when the employee is not completely relieved of duty or another applicable law or Company policy requires pay.

3. WAGE, HOUR, PAYROLL, BREAK, AND PTO POLICIES

3.1 Classification, Minimum Wage, and Overtime

Human Resources will classify workers based on actual duties and the working relationship, not labels alone. Salaried status by itself does not establish an overtime exemption.

Missouri's minimum wage is $15.00 per hour for 2026. A covered tipped employee must receive at least $7.50 per hour in direct wages, plus enough additional pay from the Company if tips do not bring total compensation to $15.00 per hour. The Company will pay the highest applicable federal, state, local, contractual, or Company rate.

A covered non-exempt employee will receive one and one-half times the regular rate for hours worked over forty in a Workweek. Overtime should be approved in advance, but lack of approval does not permit unpaid work.

3.2 Timekeeping and Off-the-Clock Work

Non-exempt employees must accurately record all time worked, including authorized or unauthorized work before or after a shift, remote work, compensable travel, training, interrupted meals, waiting time, and work communications. Working off the clock is prohibited, but all time actually worked must be recorded and paid. Employees must promptly report a missed punch or unrecorded work to [PAYROLL CONTACT].

3.3 Pay Schedule, Statements, Deductions, and Posting

The pay schedule is [WEEKLY / BIWEEKLY / SEMIMONTHLY / MONTHLY], and payday is [____]. Each payment will include a statement identifying the pay period, gross wages, deductions, and net pay.

The Company will make only deductions required or permitted by law or valid authorization. A disputed property loss, cash shortage, equipment charge, or other claimed employee debt will not be deducted from earned wages until payroll and legal review confirms the deduction is lawful.

The current Missouri minimum-wage summary is posted at [LOCATION] as required for a covered employer.

3.4 Meal and Rest Periods

The Company's policy is:

• Meal period: [PAID / UNPAID / LENGTH / ELIGIBILITY]
• Rest periods: [PAID / LENGTH / FREQUENCY]
• Reporting interrupted meals or missed breaks: [METHOD]

Short breaks will be treated as paid time when federal law requires. An unpaid meal period must be duty-free; any work during it must be reported and paid. Human Resources must separately review federal and Missouri youth-employment rules before employing anyone under eighteen.

3.5 Vacation, Sick Leave, and General PTO

Missouri's former statewide earned-paid-sick-time provisions, including Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 290.600 and 290.603, were repealed effective August 28, 2025. Any sick leave or general PTO offered by this Company is governed by the completed written policy below, subject to other applicable leave, accommodation, contract, and local-law requirements.

• Accrual or frontload method: [____]
• Carryover, cap, or forfeiture rule: [____]
• Permitted uses: [____]
• Separation payout rule: [PAID / NOT PAID / CONDITIONS]
• Scheduling and approval rules: [____]

This Handbook does not promise payout unless the completed written policy provides it.

4. PROTECTED LEAVE AND ABSENCES

4.1 Missouri Domestic- and Sexual-Violence Leave

Missouri's violence-leave law generally applies to the state, political subdivisions, and employers with at least twenty employees. A covered employee who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence, or whose qualifying family or household member is a victim and does not have interests adverse to the employee concerning the violence, may take unpaid leave for the purposes listed in Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.630.

A covered employee working for an employer with at least fifty employees may take up to two of the employee's standard workweeks in a twelve-month period. A covered employee working for an employer with twenty to forty-nine employees may take up to one standard workweek. Leave may be intermittent or on a reduced schedule and does not create an entitlement exceeding the unpaid leave allowed under FMLA.

The employee should provide at least forty-eight hours' advance notice unless impracticable. The Company may request certification permitted by § 285.630. Documentation and the fact of a request or leave will be kept in the strictest confidence except where the employee consents in writing or disclosure is otherwise required by law.

During qualifying leave, group health coverage will be maintained at the level and under the conditions that would have applied if employment continued, subject to § 285.635. On return, the employee will be restored to the same or an equivalent position as required by § 285.630.

The Company will make a timely reasonable safety accommodation for a known qualifying limitation unless it establishes undue hardship. The required state notice is delivered to each new employee at commencement of employment and is available from [HR/LOCATION].

4.2 Federal Family and Medical Leave

The FMLA generally applies to private employers with fifty or more employees in at least twenty workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year and to covered public and educational employers. An employee generally must have twelve months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior twelve months, and fifty employees within seventy-five miles of the worksite.

Eligible employees may receive up to twelve workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying family, medical, and military-exigency reasons and up to twenty-six workweeks in a single twelve-month period for qualifying military-caregiver leave. Health-benefit maintenance and restoration rights apply subject to the statute. A separate FMLA policy and required notices control administration.

4.3 Voting Leave

An employee entitled to vote in a Missouri election may receive a three-hour period between the opening and closing of the polls to vote without wage deduction, penalty, discipline, discharge, or threat of discharge when Mo. Rev. Stat. § 115.639 applies. The employee must request leave before election day. The Company may designate the three-hour period, and statutory leave is not required if the employee has three successive off-duty hours while polls are open.

Request voting leave from [CONTACT/METHOD].

4.4 Jury Service

The Company will not terminate, discipline, threaten, or take adverse action against an employee because the employee received or responded to a jury summons. The Company will not require or request an employee to use annual, vacation, personal, or sick leave for responding to a summons, jury selection, or jury service. Jury leave is [PAID / UNPAID] under Company policy, subject to applicable salary-basis rules.

An employee should provide the summons to [CONTACT] as soon as practicable.

4.5 Military Service

The Company will provide the nondiscrimination, benefit, leave, and reemployment rights required by USERRA. Employees should provide advance notice of service when practicable and contact [HR CONTACT] regarding benefits and return-to-work procedures.

4.6 Company Leave and Coordination

Leaves will run concurrently only when permitted and properly designated. Paid-leave substitution will be handled under the Missouri violence-leave law, FMLA, the governing plan or policy, and other applicable law rather than by a blanket exhaustion rule.

5. SAFETY, WORKERS' COMPENSATION, SUBSTANCE, AND WEAPONS POLICIES

5.1 Workplace Safety and Injury Reporting

Employees must follow safety rules, use required protective equipment, and promptly report hazards, injuries, and illnesses to [CONTACT]. The Company prohibits retaliation for a good-faith safety or injury report.

5.2 Workers' Compensation

Missouri workers' compensation coverage generally applies when an employer has five or more employees. A construction-industry employer that erects, demolishes, alters, or repairs improvements is generally covered with one or more employees. Statutory exclusions and elections require separate review.

The Company will secure coverage, lawfully self-insure, elect coverage, or document an applicable exclusion as required. Employees should promptly report a work-related injury or illness to [CONTACT] so the Company can arrange medical care and meet carrier and Division reporting duties.

Coverage status: [INSURED / APPROVED SELF-INSURED / ELECTION / EXCLUSION CONFIRMED]

Carrier or administrator: [____]

Required workplace notice posted at: [____]

5.3 Drug and Alcohol Conduct

Reporting to work impaired in a manner that prevents safe performance is prohibited. Possession, use, sale, or distribution of an unlawful drug or unauthorized alcohol during work or on Company property is prohibited, subject to applicable law and accommodation duties.

This Handbook alone does not establish a drug or alcohol testing program. Any testing policy must be separately drafted and reviewed for the Company's industry, federal obligations, collection methods, confidentiality rules, and applicable Missouri law.

5.4 Violence and Weapons

Threats, intimidation, and violence are prohibited. The Company's separately reviewed weapons policy is: [INSERT POLICY OR REFERENCE]. Human Resources must confirm the current state, local, and property-specific rules before applying that policy.

6. TECHNOLOGY, PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND PROTECTED ACTIVITY

6.1 Company Systems and Monitoring

Company systems, accounts, networks, and devices are provided primarily for business use. Limited personal use is [PERMITTED / PROHIBITED]. Any access or monitoring will be disclosed and conducted only as permitted by law. Employees must protect credentials, report security incidents, follow retention rules, and avoid unlawful, harassing, or unsafe use.

6.2 Confidentiality and Lawful Disclosures

Employees must protect legitimate confidential and trade-secret information learned through work. This policy does not prohibit an employee from reporting suspected unlawful conduct to a government agency or attorney, cooperating in an investigation, discussing wages or working conditions where protected, or engaging in other legally protected activity.

6.3 Social Media and Public Communications

Employees may not disclose protected Company, customer, or coworker information or falsely claim to speak for the Company. This policy does not restrict lawful personal speech, protected concerted activity, whistleblowing, agency communications, or other protected conduct.

6.4 Separate Agreements

Any arbitration, restrictive-covenant, confidentiality, invention-assignment, commission, bonus, drug-testing, surveillance, or employment agreement must be separately drafted and reviewed under current Missouri and federal law. This Handbook itself does not impose those terms.

7. ATTENDANCE, CONDUCT, AND CORRECTIVE ACTION

7.1 Expected Conduct

Employees must perform assigned duties safely and honestly; comply with lawful policies; accurately record time and business records; protect Company, customer, and coworker property; avoid unlawful harassment, threats, or violence; and disclose actual conflicts of interest to [HR/COMPLIANCE].

7.2 Attendance and Call-In

Employees unable to report as scheduled must notify [CONTACT] by [METHOD] at least [____] before the shift when practicable. This policy will be administered consistently with accommodation, Missouri violence leave, FMLA, voting, jury service, military service, workers' compensation, and other protected absences.

7.3 Corrective Action

The Company may use coaching, verbal warning, written warning, final warning, suspension, or termination. It may select or skip steps based on the circumstances. This policy does not create a contract or authorize action for a protected reason.

8. SEPARATION OF EMPLOYMENT

8.1 Notice and Return of Property

Employees are requested, but not required by this Handbook, to provide [____] days' resignation notice. At separation, employees must return Company property and records. The Company will not deduct or set off disputed property damage, shortages, or other alleged debts from earned wages unless payroll and legal review confirms a specific deduction is permitted.

8.2 Final Pay

When the Company discharges or refuses to continue employing a covered employee, earned unpaid wages at the contract rate, without unlawful abatement or deduction, are due on the day of discharge under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.110, subject to the statute's commission-based exception. Human Resources will coordinate same-day payment and any written request for delivery to a qualifying station or office.

For a resignation or another separation not governed by § 290.110, payroll will pay earned wages under the regular schedule, governing agreement, and applicable law. Vacation, PTO, holiday pay, commissions, bonuses, expenses, severance, and other benefits will be handled under the governing written policy, plan, or agreement.

8.3 Service-Letter Requests

A corporation doing business in Missouri and employing seven or more employees must route a qualifying service-letter request immediately to [HR/LEGAL CONTACT]. For an employee with at least ninety days of service who makes a timely certified-mail request satisfying Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.140, the corporation will issue the required signed letter within forty-five days after receipt.

9. ADMINISTRATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

9.1 Policy Administration

The Company may prospectively revise policies in writing, subject to applicable law, earned wages and benefits, contracts, and collective bargaining agreements. If a policy conflicts with controlling law, the law controls and the policy will be administered as closely as possible to its lawful purpose.

9.2 No Mandatory Internal Exhaustion

Employees are encouraged to use internal reporting channels, but nothing in this Handbook requires an employee to waive or delay a right to contact a government agency, file a charge, report a crime, seek emergency assistance, consult counsel, discuss wages or working conditions where protected, or pursue another protected remedy.

9.3 No Risk-Shifting Terms

This Handbook does not impose arbitration, a jury waiver, employee indemnity, a damages cap, attorney-fee shifting, an exclusive court forum, a pre-claim notice-and-cure period, a final-wage setoff, a restrictive covenant, or a force-majeure excuse from wage, leave, safety, or insurance obligations.

EMPLOYEE ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I acknowledge that I received access to the [Company Legal Name] Employee Handbook effective [__/__/____]. I understand that:

1. I am responsible for reading the Handbook and asking [HR CONTACT] about unclear policies.
2. The Handbook is not an employment contract or a promise of employment for a fixed term.
3. The employment relationship is [AT-WILL / GOVERNED BY SIGNED AGREEMENT / GOVERNED BY CBA].
4. The Company may prospectively revise policies in writing, subject to applicable law and binding agreements.
5. The Handbook does not require me to waive or delay protected reports, agency contacts, or legal remedies.

Employee Name: [________________________________]

Employee Signature: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

Company Representative: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

OFFICIAL SOURCES AND IMPLEMENTATION REFERENCES

• Missouri Revisor — § 213.010
• Missouri Revisor — § 213.055
• Missouri Department of Labor — 2026 Minimum Wage
• Missouri Revisor — § 290.502
• Missouri Revisor — § 290.505
• Missouri Revisor — § 290.600 (repealed)
• Missouri Revisor — §§ 285.625 to 285.670
• Missouri Revisor — § 115.639
• Missouri Revisor — § 494.460
• Missouri Department of Labor — Workers' Compensation for Employers
• Missouri Revisor — § 290.110
• Missouri Revisor — § 290.140
• GovInfo — 29 U.S.C. §§ 206 and 207
• GovInfo — 29 U.S.C. § 218d
• GovInfo — 29 U.S.C. §§ 2611 to 2614
• GovInfo — 38 U.S.C. §§ 4311 to 4313