Missouri Minimum Wage 2026: $15.00 Per Hour, No 2027 Increase

1.  Except as may be otherwise provided pursuant to sections 290.500 to 290.530, effective January 1, 2007, every employer shall pay to each employee wages at the rate of $6.50 per hour, or wages at the same rate or rates set under the provisions of federal law as the prevailing federal minimum wage applicable to those covered jobs in interstate commerce, whichever rate per hour is higher. 2.  The minimum wage shall be increased or decreased on January 1, 2008, and on January 1 of successive years but ending December 31, 2024, by the increase or decrease in the cost of living.  On September 30, 2007, and on each September 30 of each successive year but ending December 31, 2024, the director shall measure the increase or decrease in the cost of living by the percentage increase or decrease as of the preceding July over the level as of July of the immediately preceding year of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) or successor index as published by the U.S. Department of Labor or its successor agency, with the amount of the minimum wage increase or decrease rounded to the nearest five cents.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

1.  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. 2.  If an employee receives and retains compensation in the form of goods or services as an incident of his employment and if he is not required to exercise any discretion in order to receive the goods or services, the employer is required to pay only the difference between the fair market value of the goods and services and the minimum wage otherwise required to be paid by sections 290.500 to 290.530.  The fair market value of the goods and services shall be computed on a weekly basis.  The director shall provide by regulation a method of valuing the goods and services received by any employee in lieu of the wages otherwise required to be paid under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530.  He shall also provide by regulation a method of determining those types of goods…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

As used in sections 290.500 to 290.530, the following words and phrases mean: (1)  "Agriculture", 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; (2)  "Director", the director of the department of labor and industrial relations or his authorized representative; (3)  "Employee", any individual employed by an employer, except that the term "employee" shall not include: (a)  Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity; (b)  Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist or where the services rendered to the organization are on a voluntary…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

Any employer who pays any employee less wages than the wages to which the employee is entitled under or by virtue of sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall be liable to the employee affected for the full amount of the wage rate and an additional amount equal to twice the unpaid wages as liquidated damages, less any amount actually paid to the employee by the employer and for costs and such reasonable attorney fees as may be allowed by the court or jury.  The employee may bring any legal action necessary to collect the claim.  Any agreement between the employee and the employer to work for less than the wage rate shall be no defense to the action.  All actions for the collection of any deficiency in wages shall be commenced within three years of the accrual of the cause of action.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

1.  As used in this section, the following terms shall mean: (1)  "Employee", an individual employed in this state by an employer; (2)  "Employer", any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or any other entity that is legally doing business in this state; except that, the term "employer" shall not include any public employer, as defined in section 285.525; (3)  "Employment benefits", anything of value that an employee may receive from an employer in addition to wages and salary.  The term includes, but is not limited to, health, disability, retirement, profit-sharing, and death benefits; group accidental death and dismemberment benefits; paid or unpaid days off from work for holidays, sick leave, vacation, and personal necessity; and terms of employment, attendance, or leave policies; (4)  "Political subdivision", any municipality, special district, local governmental body, county, city, town, or village.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

Any employer who hinders the director in the performance of his duties in the enforcement of sections 290.500 to 290.530 by any of the following acts is guilty of a class C misdemeanor: (1)  Refusing to admit the director to any place of employment; (2)  Failing to make, keep and preserve any records as required under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530; (3)  Falsifying any record required under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530; (4)  Refusing to make any record required under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530 accessible to the director; (5)  Refusing to furnish a sworn statement of any record required under the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530 or any other information required for the proper enforcement of sections 290.500 to 290.530 to the director upon demand; (6)  Failing to post a summary of sections 290.500 to 290.530 or a copy of any applicable regulation as required; (7)  Discharging or in any other manner discriminating against any employee who has notified the director that he has not been paid wages in accordance with the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530, or who has caused to be instituted any proceeding under…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

Sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall not apply to any employee or employer engaged in agriculture, as defined in section 290.500 (A) if such employee is employed by an employer who did not, during any calendar quarter during the preceding calendar year, use more than five hundred man-days of agriculture labor, (B) if such employee is the parent, spouse, child, or other member of his employer's immediate family, (C) if such employee (i) is employed as a hand harvest laborer and is 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 permanent residence to the farm on which he is so employed, and (iii) has been employed in agriculture less than thirteen weeks during the preceding calendar year, (D) if such employee (other than an employee described in clause (C) of this subsection) (i) is sixteen years of age or under and is employed as a hand harvest laborer, is 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,…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

After a public hearing at which any person may be heard, the director shall provide by regulation for the employment in any occupation of individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by physical or mental deficiency at wages lower than the wage rate applicable under sections 290.500 to 290.530.  The individuals shall be employed as the director finds appropriate to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, to avoid undue hardship, and to safeguard the wage rate applicable under sections 290.500 to 290.530, except that no individual who maintains a production level within the limits required of other employees shall be paid less than the wage rate applicable under sections 290.500 to 290.530. Employees affected or their guardians shall be given reasonable notice of this hearing.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

After a public hearing of which individual employees affected must be given reasonable notice, the director shall provide by regulation for the employment in any occupation, at wages lower than the wage rate applicable under sections 290.500 to 290.530, of such learners and apprentices as he finds appropriate to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment.  Such wage rate for learners and apprentices shall be not less than 90 cents less than the minimum wage established by sections 290.500 to 290.530.  At no time may this provision be used for the purpose of evading the spirit and meaning of sections 290.500 to 290.530.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-31 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at revisor.mo.gov

As used in this chapter— “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons. “Commerce” means trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States or between any State and any place outside thereof. “State” means any State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States. “Employer” includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and includes a public agency, but does not include any labor organization (other than when acting as an employer) or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization. Except as provided in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), the term “employee” means any individual employed by an employer.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Federal Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 an Hour Since 2009, Minimum Wage by State 2026: All 50 States and DC, Alabama Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Federal, No State Rate

Every employer shall pay to each of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, wages at the following rates: except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than— $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after May 25, 2007; $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day; if such employee is a home worker in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, not less than the minimum piece rate prescribed by regulation or order; or, if no such minimum piece rate is in effect, any piece rate adopted by such employer which shall yield, to the proportion or class of employees prescribed by regulation or order, not less than the applicable minimum hourly wage rate. Such minimum piece rates or employer piece rates shall be commensurate with, and shall be paid in lieu of, the minimum hourly wage rate applicable under the provisions of this section.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Ohio Debt Collection Laws: Garnishment Formula, the 6-Year Consumer Debt Rule, and Repossession, South Dakota Debt Collection Laws: The 20% Garnishment Cap and 120-Day Lien, Wage Theft in the U.S.: Your Rights Regardless of Immigration Status

The provisions of sections 206 (except subsection (d) in the case of paragraph (1) of this subsection) and 207 of this title shall not apply with respect to— any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity (including any employee employed in the capacity of academic administrative personnel or teacher in elementary or secondary schools), or in the capacity of outside salesman (as such terms are defined and delimited from time to time by regulations of the Secretary, subject to the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, except that an employee of a retail or service establishment shall not be excluded from the definition of employee employed in a bona fide executive or administrative capacity because of the number of hours in his workweek which he devotes to activities not directly or closely related to the performance of executive or administrative activities, if less than 40 per centum of his hours worked in the workweek are devoted to such activities); or Repealed. Pub. L. 101–157, § 3(c)(1), Nov. 17, 1989, 103 Stat. 939.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: The 2024 Overtime Rule Is Officially Dead: Courts Vacated It and the DOL Restored the $35,568 Salary Threshold, Georgia Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 Federal, $5.15 State Rate, Idaho Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 an Hour, Tips and Local Rules

After the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from June 25, 1938, it shall be unlawful for any person— to transport, offer for transportation, ship, deliver, or sell in commerce, or to ship, deliver, or sell with knowledge that shipment or delivery or sale thereof in commerce is intended, any goods in the production of which any employee was employed in violation of section 206 or section 207 of this title, or in violation of any regulation or order of the Secretary issued under section 214 of this title; except that no provision of this chapter shall impose any liability upon any common carrier for the transportation in commerce in the regular course of its business of any goods not produced by such common carrier, and no provision of this chapter shall excuse any common carrier from its obligation to accept any goods for transportation; and except that any such transportation, offer, shipment, delivery, or sale of such goods by a purchaser who acquired them in good faith in reliance on written assurance from the producer that the goods were produced in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, and who acquired such goods for value without notice of any such…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Federal Whistleblower Laws: Protections and How to Report, Employer Threatening to Call Immigration? Your Rights in the U.S., Connecticut Minimum Wage 2026: $16.94 an Hour ($17.48 in 2027)

No provision of this chapter or of any order thereunder shall excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under this chapter or a maximum work week lower than the maximum workweek established under this chapter, and no provision of this chapter relating to the employment of child labor shall justify noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a higher standard than the standard established under this chapter. No provision of this chapter shall justify any employer in reducing a wage paid by him which is in excess of the applicable minimum wage under this chapter, or justify any employer in increasing hours of employment maintained by him which are shorter than the maximum hours applicable under this chapter.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Alaska Minimum Wage 2026: $14.00 an Hour, $15.00 in July 2027, Arizona Minimum Wage 2026: $15.15 Per Hour, $15.65 in 2027, Arkansas Minimum Wage 2026: $11.00 an Hour, Tip Credit Rules