Missouri — Wage & Hour

Missouri's minimum wage is $15.00 per hour, effective January 1, 2026. The rate increased from $13.75 per hour (the 2025 rate) by $1.25 pursuant to House Bill 567, signed into law July 10, 2025. If the federal minimum wage exceeds the Missouri rate, the higher federal rate applies.

Source: RSMo § 290.502 | Missouri Department of Labor

Missouri requires overtime pay at 1.5× the regular rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek under RSMo § 290.505(1). The state does not mandate daily overtime; working more than 8 hours in a single day does not by itself trigger the overtime requirement. Missouri incorporates federal FLSA exemptions by reference, so employees exempt from federal overtime (executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and certain computer employees meeting the salary and duties tests) are also exempt under state law.

Source: RSMo § 290.505

Missouri draws a sharp line between employees who are discharged and employees who resign. For discharged employees, RSMo § 290.110 mandates immediate payment: "the unpaid wages of the servant or employee then earned at the contract rate, without abatement or deduction, shall be and become due and payable on the day of the discharge or refusal to longer employ." The statute applies whether the termination is with or without cause.

Penalty for late payment after discharge

If the employer fails to pay on the discharge date, the employee may submit a written request to his or her foreman or timekeeper asking that the wages (or a valid check) be sent to any station or office where a regular agent is kept. If the money or valid check does not reach that location within seven days of the written request, then "as a penalty for such nonpayment the wages of the servant or employee shall continue from the date of the discharge or refusal to further employ, at the same rate until paid." The penalty wages cap at 60 days. This means a discharged employee may recover up to 60 additional days of wages at the contract rate if the employer delays payment beyond the seven-day cure period following written demand.

Exception for commission-based employees requiring audit

RSMo § 290.110 carves out an exception: "This section shall not apply in the case of an employee whose remuneration for work is based primarily on commissions and whose duties include collection of accounts, care of a stock or merchandise and similar activities and where an audit is necessary or customary in order to determine the net amount due." The statute does not specify an alternative deadline for these employees.

Voluntary resignation — no statutory deadline

Missouri law does not prescribe a final-paycheck deadline for employees who resign. The Missouri Department of Labor has stated, "There are no requirements under Missouri law that address when wages are due when an employee quits a job." The Department advises that if wages are not paid by the next regular pay period, the employee may pursue collection through legal action. As a matter of practice, many employers pay resigning employees on the next regularly scheduled payday.

Forfeiture for avoidance

RSMo § 290.120 provides that an employee "who secretes or absents himself to avoid payment to him, or refuses to receive the same when fully tendered, shall [not] be entitled to any benefit under sections 290.110 and 290.120 for such time as he so avoids payment."

Source: RSMo § 290.110 | RSMo § 290.120 | Missouri Department of Labor — FAQ (quit) | Missouri Department of Labor — FAQ (termination)

Missouri allows employers to pay tipped employees a direct cash wage of at least 50 percent of the state minimum wage, provided the employee's tips make up the difference so that total compensation (cash wage plus tips) equals or exceeds the full minimum wage. For 2026, with the Missouri minimum wage at $15.00 per hour, employers must pay tipped employees at least $7.50 per hour in direct wages. If the employee's tips do not bring total hourly compensation to $15.00, the employer must make up the shortfall.

Statutory framework

RSMo § 290.512(1) provides: "No employer of any employee who receives and retains compensation in the form of gratuities in addition to wages is required to pay wages in excess of fifty percent of the minimum wage rate specified in sections 290.500 to 290.530, however, total compensation for such employee shall total at least the minimum wage specified in sections 290.500 to 290.530, the difference being made up by the employer." This 50-percent rule creates a maximum tip credit of $7.50 under the current $15.00 minimum wage—meaning the employer may credit up to $7.50 of the employee's tips toward the wage obligation, but must still pay at least $7.50 in direct cash wages.

Tip credit mechanics

The tip credit applies only when the employee actually receives and retains tips sufficient to reach the full minimum wage. Missouri Department of Labor guidance confirms that "Employers are required to pay tipped employees at least 50 percent of the minimum wage, $7.50 per hour, plus any amount necessary to bring the employee's total compensation to a minimum of $15.00 per hour." The employer bears the obligation to monitor the employee's tip income and supplement it if tips fall short in any workweek. Hourly wages, tips, gratuities, and commissions are counted in the workweek in which earned to determine compliance, per 8 CSR 30-4.020.

Tip credit cap on overtime hours

The 50-percent tip credit does not increase for overtime hours. When a tipped employee works more than 40 hours in a workweek, the overtime rate is 1.5 times the full minimum wage ($15.00 × 1.5 = $22.50 per hour). The employer may still apply the $7.50 tip credit, resulting in a minimum direct cash wage of $15.00 per hour for overtime hours (as long as the employee's tips average at least $7.50 per hour during those overtime hours). If tips during overtime hours fall below $7.50 per hour, the employer must pay the difference so that total compensation reaches $22.50 per hour for each overtime hour worked.

Coverage and federal interaction

The tip credit is available for "any employee who receives and retains compensation in the form of gratuities in addition to wages." Missouri law does not define "tipped employee" more narrowly than the statute's text. Employers subject to both Missouri law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act must comply with whichever standard is more favorable to the employee; the federal tip credit permits a larger credit ($5.12 under the current federal $7.25 minimum wage), but Missouri's higher minimum wage ($15.00) typically controls for Missouri employers, meaning the operative rule is the Missouri 50-percent / $7.50 structure.

Source: RSMo § 290.512 | Missouri Department of Labor — Minimum Wage (tipped employees) | Missouri Department of Labor FAQ — Tipped employee overtime

Missouri's minimum wage law (RSMo §§ 290.500–290.530) excludes specific categories of employees from coverage and exempts certain employers entirely. Individuals and employers falling within these exemptions are not subject to Missouri's state minimum wage (effective January 1, 2026, $15.00 per hour under RSMo § 290.502(3)); employers in some categories may pay no minimum wage under state law, though the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage ($7.25 per hour as of 2026) may apply if the employee or employer meets federal coverage thresholds.

Employee exclusions under RSMo § 290.500(3)

RSMo § 290.500(3) defines "employee" as "an individual employed by an employer," but provides that the term "shall not include" the following categories. Each exclusion removes the individual from Missouri minimum wage coverage:

(a) Executive, administrative, and professional employees. "Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity" is excluded. Missouri law does not separately define these exemptions; courts and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations apply the FLSA white-collar exemptions by reference, which require satisfaction of both a duties test and a salary-basis test under 29 C.F.R. Part 541.

(b) Educational, charitable, or religious organization employees. "Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, or religious organization" is excluded, but only if the employer is not engaged in ordinary commercial activities. The exclusion turns on whether the employee performs work incidental to the nonprofit mission rather than for-profit enterprise.

(c) Outside salespersons. "Any individual employed as an outside salesperson" is excluded, incorporating the FLSA definition (an employee whose primary duty is making sales away from the employer's place of business).

(d) Seasonal camp and educational conference center employees. "Any individual employed for less than four months in any year in a resident or day camp for children or youth" is excluded, as is "any individual employed by an educational conference center operated by an educational, charitable or not-for-profit organization."

(e) Students employed in lieu of tuition or fees. "Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational organization where employment by the organization is in lieu of the requirement that the individual pay the cost of tuition, housing or other educational fees of the organization or where earnings of the individual employed by the organization are credited toward the payment of the cost of tuition, housing or other educational fees of the organization" is excluded. The exclusion applies when the individual's work substitutes for or offsets educational expenses.

(f) Private residence workers on an occasional basis. "Any individual employed on or about a private residence on an occasional basis for six hours or less on each occasion" is excluded.

(g) Sheltered workshop employees. "Any handicapped person employed in a sheltered workshop, certified by the department of elementary and secondary education" is excluded.

(h) Casual babysitters. "Any person employed on a casual basis to provide baby-sitting services" is excluded.

(i) Immediate family members. "Any individual employed by a parent, spouse, or child" is excluded.

(j) Golf caddies, newsboys, and similar occupations. "Any individual employed on a casual or intermittent basis as a golf caddy, newsboy, or in a similar occupation" is excluded. The "similar occupation" language applies to casual or intermittent work arrangements comparable to caddying or newspaper delivery.

(k) Commission-based employees with uncontrolled hours and place. "Any individual whose earnings are derived in whole or in part from sales commissions and whose hours and places of employment are not substantially controlled by the employer" is excluded. The test is whether the employer controls the employee's work schedule and location; if the employee enjoys substantial autonomy over when and where to work, the exclusion applies.

(l) Certain government employees. "Any individual who is employed in any government position defined in 29 U.S.C. § 203(e)(2)(C)" is excluded. That federal provision excludes elected officials and their personal staffs, appointees on the policymaking level, and their immediate advisers.

(m) Employees of small retail or service businesses. "Any individual employed by a retail or service business whose annual gross volume sales made or business done is less than five hundred thousand dollars" is excluded. The threshold is measured at the enterprise level; if the employer's annual gross sales or receipts fall below $500,000, all employees of that business are exempt from Missouri's minimum wage law. (Federal minimum wage may still apply if the employer meets FLSA enterprise coverage—generally $500,000 annual gross volume for most businesses—or if the employee individually engages in interstate commerce.)

(n) Incarcerated offenders. "Any individual who is an offender, as defined in section 217.010, who is incarcerated in any correctional facility operated by the department of corrections, including offenders who provide labor or services on the grounds of such correctional facility pursuant to section 217.550" is excluded.

(o) Individuals employed in connection with small newspapers. "Any individual described by the provisions of section 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(8)" is excluded. That federal provision excludes any employee employed by a newspaper with a circulation of less than 4,000, the major part of which is within the county where published (or, if published in a city with more than 50,000 inhabitants, the major part is within the city and its contiguous areas).

Agriculture exemption under RSMo § 290.507

RSMo § 290.507 provides: "Sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall not apply to agriculture." This is a complete employer exemption; agricultural employers are not required to pay Missouri's minimum wage. RSMo § 290.500(1) defines "agriculture" as "farming and all its branches," including "the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural commodities, the raising of livestock, fish and other marine life, bees, fur-bearing animals or poultry and any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with farming operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market." The definition tracks FLSA agricultural definitions and encompasses primary agricultural production plus on-farm packing, storage, and delivery-to-market activities. (The federal FLSA also exempts many agricultural employees under 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(6) and (b)(12), though certain large agricultural employers remain subject to federal minimum wage.)

Federal wage standards may still apply

Employers and employees exempt from Missouri's minimum wage law may still be subject to the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour under 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1) as of 2026) if they meet the FLSA's enterprise or individual employee coverage tests. An employer or employee falling within one of the exemptions above should evaluate federal FLSA coverage separately.

Source: RSMo § 290.500 (Definitions) | RSMo § 290.507 (Agriculture exemption)

Missouri exempts most agricultural employees from the state's overtime requirement. RSMo § 290.507 provides that "Sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall not apply to any employee or employer engaged in agriculture." Because sections 290.500–290.530 constitute Missouri's Minimum Wage and Overtime Law, the agricultural exemption removes both minimum wage and overtime coverage from most agricultural employers and employees. An agricultural employee who falls within the exemption has no state-law entitlement to overtime pay at 1.5× the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, though federal Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rules may still apply depending on the employer's size and the employee's duties.

Definition of agriculture

RSMo § 290.500(1) defines "agriculture" as "farming and all its branches including, but not limited to, the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural commodities, the raising of livestock, fish and other marine life, bees, fur-bearing animals or poultry and any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with farming operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market." The definition is broad and encompasses primary production activities (planting, growing, harvesting, raising livestock) plus on-farm ancillary activities performed as an incident to farming (packing, storage, delivery to carriers).

Narrow coverage windows — when the exemption does NOT apply

RSMo § 290.507 carves out four specific factual scenarios in which the agricultural exemption does not apply, meaning the employee IS covered by Missouri's overtime requirement (1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 per week under RSMo § 290.505(1)). The exemption does not apply—and overtime coverage does apply—only if one of the following four conditions is met:

(A) Employer below 500-man-day threshold in all quarters of the prior year. The employee is employed by an agricultural employer who did not, during any calendar quarter during the preceding calendar year, use more than 500 man-days of agricultural labor. RSMo § 290.500(9) defines "man-day" as "any day during which an employee performs any agricultural labor for not less than one hour." If the employer remained at or below 500 man-days in every calendar quarter of the prior year, the employer is not exempt, and all employees of that employer are entitled to Missouri overtime. Conversely, if the employer exceeded 500 man-days in even one quarter of the prior year, the employer and its employees fall within the agricultural exemption and overtime does not apply under Missouri law. (This test mirrors the FLSA's 500-man-day employer test under 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(6)(A).)

(B) Employee is an immediate family member of the employer. The employee is the parent, spouse, child, or other member of the employer's immediate family. If the employee meets this test, the agricultural exemption does not apply. However, RSMo § 290.500(3)(i) separately excludes "any individual employed by a parent, spouse, or child" from the definition of "employee" for purposes of the entire statute, so family-member employees on farms may still lack overtime coverage under that general exclusion.

(C) Hand-harvest piece-rate commuter meeting three-prong test. The employee meets all three of the following: (i) employed as a hand harvest laborer and paid on a piece-rate basis in an operation which has been, and is customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece-rate basis in the region of employment; (ii) commutes daily from his or her permanent residence to the farm on which he or she is employed; and (iii) has been employed in agriculture less than thirteen weeks during the preceding calendar year. Only employees who satisfy all three prongs simultaneously fall outside the agricultural exemption under this clause. (This provision parallels the FLSA hand-harvest laborer exemption under 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(6)(C).)

(D) Youth hand-harvest piece-rate commuter employed on same farm as parent or guardian. The employee (other than an employee already described in clause (C)) is sixteen years of age or under, is employed as a hand harvest laborer, is paid on a piece-rate basis in an operation customarily recognized as paid on that basis in the region, commutes daily from his or her permanent residence to the farm, and is employed on the same farm as the employee's parent or person standing in place of the parent. This clause appears to create a separate narrow window for minor hand-harvest laborers working alongside a parent or guardian; only employees meeting the full multi-part test fall outside the exemption. (This tracks the FLSA youth hand-harvest exemption structure.)

Practical effect

The vast majority of agricultural employees in Missouri are exempt from state overtime. An employee who works year-round on a farm that employed more than 500 man-days in any quarter last year, who is not a family member of the employer, and who does not meet one of the narrow hand-harvest piece-rate tests, has no Missouri-law right to overtime pay. The employer may schedule the employee for more than 40 hours per week at straight-time pay without violating Missouri law.

Federal FLSA overtime may still apply. The FLSA provides its own agricultural overtime exemptions under 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(6) and § 213(b)(12), which turn on employer size (500-man-day test) and the nature of the employee's agricultural work. Many agricultural employees are also exempt from federal overtime, but employers subject to the FLSA should evaluate federal coverage separately from Missouri law.

Cross-reference to minimum wage

The same RSMo § 290.507 exemption that removes overtime coverage also removes minimum wage coverage for agricultural employees. The agricultural minimum wage exemption is described in the "Minimum wage exemptions" section of this guide. The federal minimum wage and overtime provisions may apply to some agricultural employees depending on FLSA coverage thresholds.

Source: RSMo § 290.507 (Agriculture exemption) | RSMo § 290.500 (Definitions) | RSMo § 290.505 (Overtime compensation)

Missouri law does not require employers to provide meal breaks or rest breaks to adult employees. The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations states explicitly: "Missouri law does not require employers to provide employees, including youth workers, a break of any kind, including a lunch hour. These provisions are either left up to the discretion of the employer, can be agreed upon by the employer and employee, or may be addressed by company policy or contract." An employer may lawfully schedule an adult employee for a full shift — whether four hours, eight hours, or twelve hours — without providing any meal period or rest break, and the employee has no state-law right to break time. Employers who voluntarily offer breaks must comply with federal Fair Labor Standards Act compensation rules (short breaks under 20 minutes are paid work time; bona fide meal breaks of 30 minutes or more during which the employee is completely relieved of duties may be unpaid), but Missouri imposes no affirmative requirement that breaks be offered in the first place.

Entertainment industry exception — breaks mandatory for children under 16

Missouri requires employers in the entertainment industry to provide both meal breaks and rest periods to employees under 16 years of age. RSMo § 294.022 governs employment of children in motion picture productions, television or radio productions, theatrical productions, modeling productions, horse shows, rodeos, and musical performances.

Meal breaks for minors in entertainment

RSMo § 294.022(5) provides: "In no event may a child be at the place of employment for a period longer than five and one-half hours without a meal break." The meal period must be at least one-half hour but not more than one hour in duration. Meal periods are excluded from the overall work time — they are unpaid, provided the child is relieved of all duties. The five-and-one-half-hour clock measures time at the place of employment, not solely hours worked; if a child arrives on set at 9:00 a.m., the employer must provide a meal break no later than 2:30 p.m. even if some of that time was spent in non-work activities.

Rest periods for minors in entertainment

RSMo § 294.022(6) mandates a fifteen-minute rest period after each two hours of continuous work. Unlike meal breaks, rest periods are included in overall work time and must be paid. The statute also requires a twelve-hour rest break between the end of a child's work day and the commencement of the next day of work for the same employment — a daily rest period, not a mid-shift break, designed to prevent consecutive-day overwork.

Scope of the entertainment-industry requirement

The break requirements apply only to children under sixteen years of age employed in the entertainment industry as defined by RSMo § 294.022(1)(2). Employers outside the entertainment industry — retail, food service, manufacturing, professional services, agriculture — have no obligation under Missouri law to provide breaks to employees of any age. Similarly, employees aged sixteen and older in the entertainment industry are not entitled to mandatory breaks under RSMo § 294.022; once a worker turns sixteen, the state-law break requirement falls away (though the employer's voluntary break policy or a collective bargaining agreement may provide break rights, and federal child labor rules under the FLSA may still impose hour restrictions for employees under eighteen).

No private-sector exceptions or accommodations beyond the entertainment rule

Missouri law does not mandate meal or rest breaks for pregnant employees, nursing mothers (though federal law provides lactation break rights under 29 U.S.C. § 207(r) for non-exempt nursing employees), employees with disabilities, or employees working especially long shifts. Break time for these categories is governed by employer policy, negotiated agreement, or federal law, but not by Missouri statute. Employers who choose to offer breaks may do so selectively (for example, offering breaks only to full-time employees or only during certain shifts) without violating Missouri wage-and-hour law, as long as any distinctions do not run afoul of Missouri or federal anti-discrimination statutes.

Cross-reference to federal FLSA compensation rules when breaks are offered

When an employer voluntarily provides a break, Missouri does not prescribe whether it must be paid or unpaid — that determination is controlled by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Under FLSA regulations codified at 29 C.F.R. § 785.18 and § 785.19, short rest periods of five to twenty minutes are compensable work time and must be counted toward hours worked for minimum wage and overtime purposes; bona fide meal periods of thirty minutes or longer during which the employee is completely relieved of duty are not work time and need not be compensated. If an employee is required to perform any work duties during a meal break — for example, answering phones, monitoring equipment, or remaining on call — the break is not bona fide and the entire period must be paid. Missouri employers must pay employees for all hours worked, including improperly designated "unpaid" breaks during which work occurred, to comply with the state minimum wage law (RSMo § 290.502) and overtime law (RSMo § 290.505).

Practice note — cross-jurisdictional employers

Employers operating in Missouri and in states that mandate meal or rest breaks (for example, California, which requires a thirty-minute meal period for shifts over five hours and a ten-minute paid rest break for every four-hour work period under Cal. Lab. Code § 512 and applicable Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders) must take care not to assume Missouri follows the same rules. An employer accustomed to California or New York break obligations who opens a Missouri location may lawfully eliminate break periods for Missouri employees, though doing so may harm morale, productivity, or recruitment. Multi-state employers often adopt a uniform break policy across all locations to simplify administration, even when some states do not legally require it.

Source: Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations — Breaks, Lunches, and Personal Time Off | RSMo § 294.022 (Employment in entertainment industry — break requirements for children) | Missouri Department of Labor — Youth Employment — Acceptable Work Hours (entertainment industry breaks)