Margaret A. Hesse
Shannon M. OrbeOn July 10, 2025, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill (HB) 567 into law, repealing large portions of Missouri’s Proposition A (“Prop A”) involving earned paid sick leave and minimum wage increases. In the November 2024 election, Missouri voters approved Prop A, a state-wide ballot measure, by nearly 60% of the vote. Prop A sought to amend Missouri’s statutes related to wage and hour provisions, increasing the state minimum wage and providing certain employees with earned paid sick leave.
Under the provisions of Prop A, Missouri’s minimum wage increased to $13.75 per hour on January 1, 2025, and was set to increase again to $15.00 per hour starting January 1, 2026, and thereafter adjust the state minimum wage based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Works every year starting on January 1, 2027. These provisions applied only to private employers and their employees.
While the new law HB 567 allows for the state minimum wage to increase on January 1, 2026, to $15.00 per hour, it removes the provisions for the state minimum wage to adjust with inflation starting in 2027. HB 567 also contains a new provision that now subjects “public employers” to the increased minimum wage provisions. “Public employers” 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.” Rev. Mo. Stat. § 290.502.4. This means that while public employers were not subject to the increased minimum wage under Prop A, they are now required to meet these new minimum wage requirements.
HB 567 further eliminates Prop A’s earned paid sick leave provisions in full. Prop A’s provision regarding earned paid sick leave became effective on May 1, 2025, requiring private employers with business receipts greater than $500,000 a year to provide employees with at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Prop A also allowed sick leave for the care of family members and to address issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking and/or for absences due to public health emergencies that result in business or school closures. Prop A also created a cause of action for employees who believed their employer interfered with, restrained, or denied the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right protected under the statute.
Next Steps
Although Governor Kehoe signed HB 567 into law, the provisions of Prop A will remain in effect until August 28, 2025, including the paid sick leave portion.
While private employers may have already budgeted for the planned increases in minimum wage, Missouri’s public employers including its public schools, must now prepare to increase wages to $13.75 an hour on August 28, 2025, and to $15.00 an hour on January 1, 2026.
Employers should also review their employee handbooks to determine whether they reserve the right to amend or modify its provisions and consult legal counsel about the best means to adjust sick leave policies to fit the needs of their business.
If you have any questions about the impact of HB 567, please contact your Tueth Keeney lawyer.
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The law firm of Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan & Jackstadt, P.C. (the “Firm”), has one of the largest and most successful education law and higher education groups in the country. The Firm regularly serves the legal counsel needs of approximately 150 school districts throughout Missouri, and has one of the largest school law practices in Central and Southern Illinois. The Firm also represents numerous colleges and universities throughout Missouri and Illinois. In addition, the Firm is one of approximately twenty law firms in the nation that have been appointed to act as Select Counsel to represent higher education institutions insured by United Educators Insurance Risk Retention Group, Inc., the nation’s largest insurer of colleges and universities. The attorneys in the Firm’s education and higher education groups provide a full range of services to school districts, colleges, and universities, ranging from day-to-day counseling on legal issues, to representation in complex litigation.
Margaret A. Hesse is a shareholder with the law firm of Tueth Keeney. She primarily practices in the areas of education law, employment law, and litigation and has represented school districts across both Missouri and Illinois for many years. Margaret’s experience in includes defending school districts in matters involving the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Missouri Human Rights Act, Title VII, the Safe Schools Act, Title IX, the Equal Pay Act, Section 1983, First Amendment and Sunshine Act compliance, to name a few. She consults with educators on a daily basis on a variety of issues. Margaret is committed to creating a world where school leaders are spending as little time as possible thinking about legal concerns, so they can maximize their time and attention shaping young lives.
Shannon M. Orbe practices primarily in the areas of litigation, education, and labor and employment law. She represents both private and public institutions in education and employment matters. Shannon advises school districts, charter schools, and private schools throughout Missouri with respect to employment and litigation matters. Shannon attended law school at St. Louis University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to joining Tueth Keeney, Shannon practiced immigration law at a boutique firm in St. Louis. From 2021 to 2022, Shannon served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Judge Staci M. Yandle for the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. From 2018 to 2021, she served as an attorney advisor to the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Kansas City, Missouri Immigration Court.