In a reversal of a voter-approved measure, Missouri Governor signed legislation repealing the state’s earned paid sick leave law. The new law, effective August 28, 2025, rolls back provisions approved under Proposition A in 2024.
As covered in a Littler article, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe recently signed legislation undoing two voter-approved labor policies: a statewide paid sick leave mandate and automatic inflation-based minimum wage increases. Local governments were exempt from the original paid sick leave mandate.
The new law, HB 567, officially repeals the paid sick leave law that took effect in May 2025 and halts the planned minimum wage escalations slated to begin in 2027. While the $13.75/hour wage for 2025 and the $15.00/hour rate for 2026 remain unchanged, the indexing provision is now scrapped. This rollback takes effect on August 28, 2025, but until then, employers must continue following all paid leave requirements, including the one hour for every 30 hours worked accrual rule and associated job protections. Post August 28, employers will need to decide how to handle previously earned sick leave, including whether to honor or rescind those benefits, especially if they only implemented them in response to the now-repealed law.
In response to the law’s repeal, efforts have already been made to file a constitutional amendment in the 2026 election, which, if passed, would be significantly difficult to repeal, according to The Guardian.
Maryland passed its own statewide paid sick leave law back in 2018, after overriding a 2017 veto of the legislation. This law requires all employers, including county governments, to provide paid sick and safe leave.
