The Missouri Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. While the federal minimum wage serves as a baseline, different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own higher rates.

The statewide rate is: $15.00 per hour for most employees.

• Compliance note: Missouri enforces a specific small-business exemption. Retail or service businesses whose annual gross volume of sales or business done is less than $500,000 are exempt from the state minimum wage requirement. However, these businesses must still comply with the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour if they are covered under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Local jurisdictions: in Missouri, the minimum wage is set at the state level. Local municipalities are preempted by state law from establishing their own minimum wage rates that exceed the state or federal baseline. Therefore, the $15.00 rate applies identically across all covered employers in the state.

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Tipped minimum wage is the lowest hourly base pay employers are legally obligated to pay eligible employees who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips.

The current rate is: $7.50 per hour for eligible tipped employees. 

• Compliance note: Missouri law allows covered employers to take a 50% tip credit against the state's standard $15.00 per hour minimum wage. If an employee's $7.50 cash wage plus their actual earned tips do not equal at least $15.00 per hour for the workweek, the employer is legally obligated to pay the difference. Retail or service businesses with less than $500,000 in annual gross sales are exempt from this state rate, but must still comply with the federal minimum wage.

Missouri law requires that covered, non-exempt employees be paid overtime wages equal to 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for every hour worked over 40 hours within a single workweek.

Compliance note: Missouri exempts retail and service establishments from state overtime laws if their annual gross volume of sales is less than $500,000. However, employers must still ensure compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which may independently mandate overtime pay if employees engage in interstate commerce. Additionally, Missouri provides a specific overtime exemption for certain seasonal amusement and recreational businesses.

Missouri wage and hour laws generally do not require employers to provide meal periods or rest breaks to adult or youth employees. (Compliance Note: There is one strict state exception: Youth workers under the age of 16 employed in the entertainment industry cannot work more than 5.5 hours without a meal break and must be provided a 15-minute paid rest period after every two hours of continuous work).

Because Missouri does not mandate breaks for most industries, employers must default to the federal payment rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA):

• Rest breaks: If an employer chooses to offer short breaks (usually lasting 20 minutes or less), this time must be counted as compensable working hours and paid.

• Meal periods: Bona fide meal periods (usually 30 minutes or more) do not need to be paid, provided the employee is completely relieved of all work duties during the entire period. (Compliance Note: Under federal law, an employer is not required to permit an employee to leave the premises for a meal period to be considered legally unpaid, so long as the employee is completely freed from active or inactive work duties).

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Vacation leave

Missouri does not require employers to provide paid time off to their employees. Employers can choose to offer paid or unpaid vacation leave at their discretion.

Compliance note: under Missouri law, accrued, unused vacation time does not have to be paid out upon an employee's termination unless the employer's written policy or employment contract explicitly guarantees the payout. "Use-it-or-lose-it" policies and forfeiture rules are legally permissible.

Paid sick leave

As of 2026, Missouri does not have a state law requiring private employers to provide paid sick leave; employers may establish their own sick leave policies at their discretion.

Compliance note: the mandatory paid sick leave requirements previously enacted by voters under Proposition A were fully repealed by the state legislature via HB 567, effective August 28, 2025. Employers are no longer legally obligated to provide statutory paid sick time, though covered employers must still comply with the unpaid leave requirements of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Holidays

Missouri state law does not require private employers to provide paid holidays, unpaid holiday leave, or premium pay for working on a holiday. Any holiday time off or additional holiday compensation is offered strictly at the employer's discretion.

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Missouri’s Child Labor Law primarily applies to minors under the age of 16.

Work certificates and permits

• General employment: Minors who are 14 or 15 years old must obtain a Work Certificate to hold a job during the school year. The minor must apply in person, and the certificate is issued locally by the superintendent (or authorized principal) of the child’s school. The application requires job details from the employer, parental consent, and age verification.

• Entertainment industry: Youth under 16 working in the entertainment industry must obtain a specialized Work Permit directly from the Director of the Missouri Division of Labor Standards.

Minimum age and casual work exceptions 

Minors under 14 are generally prohibited from working. The only legal exceptions are:

• Children employed in agriculture or the entertainment industry.

• Children employed in a non-hazardous business entirely owned by their parent or guardian.

• Casual Work: Minors (including those over 12 years old) may perform casual, non-hazardous jobs such as delivering newspapers, babysitting, performing occasional yard work (with parental consent), or refereeing youth sporting events (provided they do not work in a concession stand). (Compliance Note: While Missouri state law exempts these casual roles, employers must still ensure compliance with the federal FLSA, which generally sets 14 as the minimum age for traditional W-2 employment).

Limits on working hours (under 16) 

Because covered Missouri employers must also follow stricter federal FLSA standards, minors under 16 cannot work:

• More than 3 hours on a school day.

• More than 8 hours on a non-school day.

• More than 6 days in a single workweek.

• More than 18 hours per week when school is in session (Federal FLSA standard).

• More than 40 hours per week when school is not in session.

• Before 7:00 AM on any day.

• After 7:00 PM from Labor Day through May 31 (school year).

• After 9:00 PM from June 1 through Labor Day (summer).

Employer posting requirements 

Under Missouri state law, employers are legally required to keep all minor work certificates on file and must prominently post a list of all employees under the age of 16 in a conspicuous place within the workplace (such as a breakroom notice board).

Hiring
The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) states that it’s illegal to discriminate in any aspect of employment (from hiring to firing) on any of the following characteristics:

• Race

• Color

• Religion

• National origin

• Ancestry

• Sex

• Disability

• Age (40 through 69)

Firing
Missouri employers have the right to terminate employees at will for nearly any reason and no reason at all as long as no employment contract is being broken and the reason is not discriminatory, retaliatory, or otherwise unlawful.