Missourians will vote Nov. 5 on a measure to gradually raise the minimum wage and mandate paid sick leave.
If Proposition A is passed, the minimum wage would increase to $13.75 on Jan. 1, and to $15 by Jan. 1, 2026. Starting in 2027, the state would adjust the minimum wage annually based on the Consumer Price Index.
This change would impact about 900,000 workers, or about a third of all workers in Missouri, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Employees would also earn one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked under the proposed amendment. If Proposition A passes, Missouri would join 18 other states and Washington, D.C., in requiring paid sick leave.
For existing employees, paid sick leave would begin to accrue on May 1, 2025, if the proposition passes.
Business leaders generally oppose state mandates on employment practices. Some have warned that requiring a higher minimum wage might force them to cut the number of employees to make ends meet.
At the same time, more than 500 businesses in the Missouri Business for a Healthy Economy coalition have urged passage of Proposition A.
“I want my employees to truly value our restaurant and that starts with me valuing them. I want them to be able to make a living and enjoy their life," one member of the coalition, Michelle La Fata, owner of Pasta La Fata in Columbia, said in a press release.
Proposition A also is endorsed by over forty organizations, including the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Missouri, the ACLU, Fight for Fifteen and Missouri Jobs with Justice.
Proposition A follows a trend of increasing minimum wage over the past several years in Missouri. Proposition B, passed in 2018, raised the minimum wage annually from $9.45 at that time until it reached $12 in 2023. It currently sits at $12.30, meaning full-time minimum wage workers make $492 per week.
Not all employees make minimum wage, however. Employers are only required to pay their employees who make tips half the minimum wage, if the employees’ tips make up the difference. Additionally, businesses that make less than $500,000 annually do not have to pay employees the minimum wage.
The proposition also states that “governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts and education institutions” are all exempt from the minimum wage increase.
