Missouri paid sick time in the hands of voters

Missouri voters will decide in November whether earned paid sick time (PST) will become a requirement for employers with employees who work in the state. The measure will appear on the ballot as "Proposition A," and, if approved, will take effect May 1, 2025.

How much leave would Missouri employees get?

If passed, employees would accrue time off at one hour for every 30 hours worked. They begin accruing leave on May 1, 2025, or when they begin working for an employer.

Employers with 15 or more employees may limit an employee's use of PST to 56 hours per year; employers with fewer than 15 employees may limit an employee's use of PST to 40 hours per year. Employers determine the 12-month leave year.

Employees could use the PST as soon as it is accrued, and carry over at least 80 hours of unused PST from year to year.

Employees may request the PST verbally, but employers may request documentation if the leave lasts three or more days. Employees could take the PST for the following reasons

• Their own condition, including the need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment, or need for preventive medical care;
• To care for a family member with a condition who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment, or who needs preventive medical care;
• Because the employee's workplace closed due to a public health emergency, the employee needs to care for a child whose school or place of care closed due to a public health emergency, or to avoid exposure of a communicable disease in the community; or
• Because the employee's or employee's family member needs to seek medical attention, services from a victim services organization, psychological, or other counseling, relocation, or legal services due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Missouri PST vs. the FMLA

The definition of "family member" under Missouri PST is broader than that of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, and includes:

• Children, including children of a domestic partner;
• Parents, including parents-in-law, and parents of a domestic partner;
• Spouses, domestic partners, or an individual with whom the employee is in a continuing romantic or intimate relationship;
• Grandparents, grandchildren, or siblings, including stepsiblings of the employee or employee's spouse or domestic partner; and
• A person for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety-related care.

Increments and frontloading

Employees could use the Missouri PST "in the smaller hourly increments or the smallest increment that the employer's payroll system uses to account for absences or use of other time."

Instead of allowing employees to accrue the leave, employers may frontload PST to employees at the beginning of the leave year. The amount of PST to be frontloaded is the amount each employee is expected to accrue in the year. If frontloading PST, employers may pay out unused

PST at the end of the leave year instead of allowing carryover.

Employers that already provide paid sick leave that meets or exceeds the provisions of Proposition A do not need to provide additional leave.