Missouri Governor Signs Bill Repealing Paid Sick Leave Law and Revising Minimum Wage Update Schedule – What Now?

On July 10, 2025, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed into law HB 567, which repeals the statewide paid sick leave law voters approved at the November 2024 election that took effect on May 1, 2025, and eliminates the voter-approved inflation-based annual adjustments to the minimum wage that were set to begin in 2027. The paid sick leave repeal and minimum wage amendments are set to go into effect on August 28, 2025, leaving in place the $13.75 per hour minimum wage for 2025 and the $15.00 per hour rate for 2026. 

Although the paid leave law will eventually disappear, all of its requirements remain in effect in the interim, including the requirement that employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked through August 27, 2025. However, employers will no longer need to allow employees to accrue leave for hours worked on or after August 28, 2025. In addition, if employees use such leave through August 27, 2025, the law’s job protections will still apply to those absences. 

For any employer that provided a new paid sick leave benefit only because the law required them to, the company may want to consider whether to walk back or eliminate the benefits earned since May 1st when the law is repealed on August 28th. Likewise, employers will need to determine whether – and under what terms – employees will be permitted to retain those previously earned benefits. 

If an employer opted to use a pre-existing paid leave benefit to comply with the paid sick leave law – e.g., a paid time off (PTO) plan – employers may want to consider unwinding any modifications that were made to comply with the law – such as extending employee eligibility, relaxing advance notice and attendance-related provisions, or modifying the year-end treatment of unused time. With no guidance or direction yet from the state about how the repeal should be implemented, employers may want to review their available options with counsel. 

However an employer decides to respond to the repeal, this development is yet another reminder about how fluid short-term, job-protected paid leave laws can be. It highlights the importance of staying on top of developments at the state (and local) level across the country and the benefits of proactively monitoring the paid leave benefits offered by the company.