AbsentEase
Missouri sick leave law & call-off rules
Missouri just gave employers whiplash: Prop A's earned paid sick time became mandatory on May 1, 2025 and was repealed by the legislature effective August 28, 2025 — 119 days of mandate, gone. But the story isn't over: handbook language written for Prop A may still bind you contractually, retaliation over leave taken in that window remains actionable, and a November 2026 ballot initiative would restore sick leave as a constitutional amendment the legislature couldn't touch. Here is where things actually stand in 2026.
Missouri at a glance
| Paid sick leave mandate | None as of Aug 28, 2025 — Prop A's sick time was repealed by HB 567 |
|---|---|
| Restoration attempt | Nov 2026 ballot: constitutional amendment the legislature couldn't repeal |
| Local ordinances | Preempted (RSMo 285.055) — no city sick-leave mandates allowed |
| Employment relationship | At-will, narrow public-policy exception |
| PTO payout at termination | Only if your policy or contract promises it |
| Final paycheck deadline | Fired: day of discharge; wage-continuation penalty after written demand · Quit: next payday in practice |
| Voting leave | Up to 3 hours paid, on request before election day |
Is paid sick leave required in Missouri?
Not anymore. Prop A (approved November 2024) required earned paid sick time at 1 hour per 30 worked starting May 1, 2025 — and HB 567 repealed those provisions effective August 28, 2025, after the Missouri Supreme Court had declined to void the election. Nothing in the repeal required honoring balances accrued during the window, though leave actually taken before August 28 keeps its protections, and policies that promised the time in writing may still owe it as a matter of contract. Local ordinances are preempted (RSMo 285.055), so no city can fill the gap. Watch November 2026: Initiative Petition 2026-047 would re-impose paid sick leave constitutionally.
The Prop A timeline (and what survives)
| Nov 5, 2024 | Voters approve Prop A: sick leave (1 per 30, caps 40/56 hours by size) plus minimum-wage increases |
|---|---|
| May 1, 2025 | Earned paid sick time becomes mandatory (RSMo 290.600–.642) |
| Aug 28, 2025 | HB 567 repeals the sick-time statute; accrued balances lose statutory protection, but leave already taken keeps its anti-retaliation cover |
| What survived | The $15.00/hour minimum wage (Jan 1, 2026) stands; CPI indexing from 2027 was killed |
| Nov 2026 | Initiative Petition 2026-047 would restore paid sick leave as a constitutional amendment — repeal-proof |
The contractual tail: employers who wrote Prop A accruals into handbooks or offer letters during the window may owe that time as a promise, repeal or not. If your 2025 handbook still describes earned paid sick time, either honor it or amend it deliberately — silence is how disputes start.
The federal floor that still applies
FMLA
Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."
ADA
For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.
Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Missouri
Missouri is back to being a policy-is-the-law state: at-will employment, no sick-leave mandate, and attendance enforcement limited mainly by the federal floor and workers' comp retaliation doctrine. The 2025 whiplash leaves two live wires. First, anything an employee did with protected sick time between May and August 2025 stays protected — discipline that reaches back into that window invites a claim. Second, the mandate may return in repeal-proof form after November 2026, and employers who kept their Prop A call-off and record-keeping machinery running will re-comply in a week while competitors start over. Wage disputes go to the Missouri Division of Labor Standards or court, and they turn on records either way. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system is the part of Prop A compliance worth keeping voluntarily.
PTO payout and final paychecks
| Scenario | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employee is fired or laid off | Due on the day of discharge; if unpaid 7 days after written request, wages continue as a penalty up to 60 days | RSMo 290.110 |
| Employee quits | No statutory deadline — next regular payday in practice | — |
| Unused vacation / PTO | Owed only if a policy or contract promises it | Policy/contract law |
| Prop A-era sick balances | No statutory payout or carry obligation after the repeal — but written policy promises from the mandate window may bind contractually | HB 567 |
The discharge-day rule plus the 60-day wage-continuation penalty make Missouri firings a same-day payroll event once an employee sends a written demand. See how PTO accrual works.
Leave Missouri employers must (and must not) provide
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Voting | Yes — paid | Up to 3 hours unless the employee has 3 consecutive off-duty hours while polls are open; request before election day (RSMo 115.639) |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid | No adverse action, and you can't force annual, vacation, personal, or sick leave onto jury days (RSMo 494.460) |
| Military | Yes | USERRA (federal) plus Missouri National Guard protections |
| Sick leave | No | Whatever your written policy provides — see the Prop A contractual tail above |
| Meal & rest breaks | No | No Missouri break statute for adults |
The Missouri employer's attendance playbook
- Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
- Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
- Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
- Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
- Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.
Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.