Missouri

$15.00 / hour

For 2026, the Missouri minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. Tipped employees must be paid at least 50 percent of that rate, $7.50 per hour, plus any amount necessary to reach $15.00 per hour.

Effective

2026-01-01

Checked

2026-08-10

1.5%

Employers must pay at least one and one-half times an employee's regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, and employees cannot waive overtime rights for straight-time pay.

Checked

2026-08-10

For Missouri unemployment-tax purposes, common-law and statutory employees are covered, and DES applies a twenty-factor test focused on the employer's right to control the manner and means of performance to distinguish employees from independent contractors.

Checked

2026-08-10

Covered corporations and persons must pay wages and salaries as often as semimonthly, within sixteen days after the close of each payroll period; executive, administrative, professional, sales, and commission-compensated employees may be paid monthly.

Checked

2026-08-10

When an employee is discharged, unpaid earned wages become due on the day of discharge; if requested in writing and payment or a valid check does not reach the designated station or office within seven days, wages may continue as a penalty for no more than 60 days.

Checked

2026-08-10

At least once a month, an employer must furnish each employee a statement of deductions, either as part of the check or in a separate document.

Checked

2026-08-10

An employer may make deductions for its benefit, such as equipment damage or loan repayment, only while the deduction does not reduce a covered employee's wages below the state hourly minimum wage.

Checked

2026-08-10

No general payment methods requirement for private employers was located in MO's official sources as of 2026-08-13. This records the result of a documented search of 2 official sources, not a statement that no such law exists. Federal requirements continue to apply where applicable.

Checked

2026-08-13

Missouri has no state laws requiring breaks or lunch periods generally.

Checked

2026-08-10

There is no minimum or maximum number of hours an employee may generally be scheduled or asked to work; most employers must pay for actual hours worked, and job travel during normal work hours counts as work time.

Checked

2026-08-10

No general predictive scheduling requirement for private employers was located in MO's official sources as of 2026-08-13. This records the result of a documented search of 2 official sources, not a statement that no such law exists. Federal requirements continue to apply where applicable.

Checked

2026-08-13

No general expense reimbursement requirement for private employers was located in MO's official sources as of 2026-08-13. This records the result of a documented search of 2 official sources, not a statement that no such law exists. Federal requirements continue to apply where applicable.

Checked

2026-08-13

When a covered sales-representative contract is terminated, commissions then due must be paid within 30 days, and commissions becoming due after termination must be paid within 30 days after becoming due.

Checked

2026-08-10

For Missouri income-tax withholding, wages include salaries, vacation allowances, bonuses, and commissions regardless of how measured or paid.

Checked

2026-08-10

Missouri employers are not required to provide severance pay; it is discretionary unless established by contract.

Checked

2026-08-10

Missouri employers are not required to provide holiday pay; it is discretionary unless established by contract.

Checked

2026-08-10

Missouri's Prevailing Wage Law establishes minimum wage rates for workers on public-works construction projects valued at more than $75,000, with rates varying by county and type of work.

Checked

2026-08-10

Employers may continue to offer earned paid sick time, but Missouri no longer requires it beginning August 28, 2025.

Effective

2025-08-28

Checked

2026-08-10

No general paid family medical leave requirement for private employers was located in MO's official sources as of 2026-08-13. This records the result of a documented search of 2 official sources, not a statement that no such law exists. Federal requirements continue to apply where applicable.

Checked

2026-08-13

A voter is entitled to be absent from employment for three hours while polls are open, with no deduction from usual salary or wages, if the request is made prior to election day and the voter does not have three successive hours free from work while polls are open.

Effective

1978-01-01

Checked

2026-08-10

4.7%

For 2026, Missouri withholding is calculated after the applicable annual standard deduction using graduated rates of 0%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%, 3.5%, 4%, 4.5%, and 4.7%, and the per-payroll amount is rounded to the nearest whole dollar.

Effective

2026-01-01

Checked

2026-08-10

Each employee must file a completed Form MO W-4 to indicate filing status; if the employee does not submit the form, the employer must withhold at a single tax rate.

Checked

2026-08-10

4.7%

When Missouri tax is withheld from regular wages, separately paid supplemental wages may be withheld at 4.7% or under the aggregate method; supplemental wages paid with regular wages are treated as one regular payroll payment.

Effective

2026-01-01

Checked

2026-08-10

A nonresident working partly inside and outside Missouri is subject to withholding on Missouri-service wages when Form MO W-4A is filed, and Missouri has no reciprocity agreement with any other state.

Checked

2026-08-10

1%

Kansas City's earnings tax is 1% of earned income; residents are taxed on earned income regardless of work location, and nonresidents are taxed on income earned within Kansas City, Missouri.

Checked

2026-08-10

2.376% · wage base $9,000

Missouri's taxable wage base for 2026 is $9,000, and new employers receive a rate assigned to employers in the same industrial classification.

Effective

2026-01-01

Checked

2026-08-10

No general disability insurance requirement for private employers was located in MO's official sources as of 2026-08-13. This records the result of a documented search of 2 official sources, not a statement that no such law exists. Federal requirements continue to apply where applicable.

Checked

2026-08-13

Missouri requires workers' compensation coverage for employers with five or more employees and construction-industry employers with one or more employees.

Checked

2026-08-10

Missouri assigns annual, quarterly, monthly, or quarter-monthly withholding frequency; an employer that withheld $9,000 or more in each of at least two months during the prior 12 months must remit quarter-monthly.

Effective

2026-01-01

Checked

2026-08-10

Every employer withholding Missouri income tax must report and remit on Form MO-941 according to its assigned frequency, and active accounts must file each reporting period even when no tax was withheld.

Effective

2026-01-01

Checked

2026-08-10

Form W-2 must be provided to employees by January 31; employers with 250 or more W-2s submit electronically by the last day of January, while paper filers submit state copies with Form MO W-3 by the last day of February.

Checked

2026-08-10

Within 20 days of hiring a new employee, the employer must submit a copy of the completed Form MO W-4 for new-hire reporting.

Checked

2026-08-10

25%

For ordinary garnishment, the maximum is the least of 25% of disposable weekly earnings, the amount exceeding 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, or 10% when the employee is a Missouri-resident head of family.

Checked

2026-08-10

An employer may not pay a female employee less than male employees in the same establishment for the same quantity and quality of the same classification of work, except for good-faith differences based on listed factors other than sex.

Effective

1963-08-28

Checked

2026-08-10

No general pay transparency requirement for private employers was located in MO's official sources as of 2026-08-13. This records the result of a documented search of 2 official sources, not a statement that no such law exists. Federal requirements continue to apply where applicable.

Checked

2026-08-13

No general salary history requirement for private employers was located in MO's official sources as of 2026-08-13. This records the result of a documented search of 2 official sources, not a statement that no such law exists. Federal requirements continue to apply where applicable.

Checked

2026-08-13

2%

An employer paying less than the wages required by Missouri minimum-wage law is liable for the wage deficiency plus twice the unpaid wages as liquidated damages, costs, and reasonable attorney fees.

Effective

2018-11-06

Checked

2026-08-10

Employers subject to the Missouri Minimum Wage Law must conspicuously post its summary; Chapter 213-covered employers must post the equal-employment notice, and employers of workers under 16 must post the youth-employment list.

Checked

2026-08-10

For workers age 14 or 15, work certificates are needed for listed jobs; while school is in session, work is limited to three hours on school days, eight hours on non-school days, six days and 40 hours per week, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Checked

2026-08-10

No general e verify requirement for private employers was located in MO's official sources as of 2026-08-13. This records the result of a documented search of 2 official sources, not a statement that no such law exists. Federal requirements continue to apply where applicable.

Checked

2026-08-13

Every employer paying wages to an employee working in Missouri must register with the Department of Revenue electronically or with Form 2643; a permanent Missouri registration number is then assigned.

Checked

2026-08-10

An employer subject to the Missouri Minimum Wage Law must keep each employee's name, address, job description, pay rate, amount paid each pay period, and daily and weekly hours for no less than three years.

Checked

2026-08-10

7%

For calendar year 2026, untimely Missouri withholding payments bear 7% annual interest; late filing generally adds 5% per month up to 25%, and failure to pay timely adds 5%.

Effective

2026-01-01

Checked

2026-08-10

An action to collect a wage deficiency under Missouri's minimum-wage law must be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrues.

Effective

2018-11-06

Checked

2026-08-10