Missouri voters approve $15 minimum wage, guaranteed paid sick leave for many workers

Jonathan Shorman
·3 min read
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DeMarco Davidson, the executive director of Metropolitan Congregations United, stands with supporters of an effort to raise Missouri’s minimum wage in Jefferson City on May 1, 2024.

Missouri voters on Tuesday approved raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 and guaranteeing paid sick leave to workers, passing a ballot measure supporters said will help lower-income families and individuals.

The ballot measure, Proposition A, will gradually raise the minimum wage. The current minimum wage of $12.30 an hour will grow to $13.75 an hour on Jan. 1, 2025, and to $15 an hour in January 2027. The wage will then be adjusted annually based on inflation.

“This victory wouldn’t have been possible without over a decade of low-wage worker organizing for $15 and a union. Many of us have been in this fight together for years, on the strike line and in the streets,” said Fran Marion, a Kansas City-based fast food worker who has long sought a $15 minimum wage.

Nearly 59% of voters had cast ballots in favor of Amendment 3, compared to 41% against, with about 77% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.

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The measure requires employers with 15 or more workers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. According to the proposal, the earned sick leave provision would not apply to government workers, retail or service employees who work for a business that makes less than $500,000 a year, people who are incarcerated, golf caddies, and babysitters, among others.

Governments, school districts and educational institutions would be exempt from the minimum wage increase.

The proposal would change Missouri law – not the state constitution – meaning the Republican-controlled General Assembly could eventually repeal the measure if it passes. Missouri voters last approved a minimum wage increase in 2018, when they approved an increase to $12.

“As a second generation fast food worker and father of three daughters, I know the struggle of raising a family on low wages,” Terrence Wise, a low-wage worker and a member of Missouri Workers Center, said last month.

“I’ve had to miss work, and a paycheck, to care for my sick children. We’ve been homeless. We’ve had to make the hard decisions,” Wise said. “But with Proposition A, I can keep my family healthy and give them opportunities that I didn’t have.”

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A coalition of business groups, including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, the Missouri Grocers Association, the Missouri Restaurant Association, the Missouri Retailers Association and the National Federation of Independent Business, opposed the measure.

They argued that Proposition A would restrict employers’ ability to set their own time off policies and tailor their practices to the specific needs of their workforce.

“Businesses with tight profit margins are already struggling with the effects of inflation. Proposition A would further increase the cost of operating in our state for all businesses, even those that currently pay more than the minimum wage,” the coalition said in a statement.

Some businesses favored the measure, however. A coalition in favor of Proposition A, Missouri Business for a Health Economy, said it would boost consumer spending, reduce employee turnover and increase worker productivity.

“Employees are our greatest assets, and we are happy to invest in our staff with good wages and paid time off,” Jason Provo, owner of Blackhole Bakery in Kansas City, said in the run up to the vote.