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Missouri companies sue to stop a law that raises minimum wage and requires paid sick leave

[December 10, 2024] By SUMMER BALLENTINE

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri business groups announced Monday that they have filed a lawsuit to try to stop a voter-approved law that will raise the state's minimum wage and require employers to give workers paid sick leave.

The powerful Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, restaurant and grocers associations say the law violates a state constitutional requirement that ballot measures only address one issue because it included the minimum wage increase and paid sick leave.

The law will increase the state's minimum wage from the current $12.30 an hour to $13.75 in January and $15 in 2026. It gives workers up to seven paid sick days per year starting in May.

Leaders of the minimum-wage campaign said businesses are trying to undo the will of voters.

“Missouri’s working class, in lockstep with allies across the state, went to the ballot box on Nov. 5 to overwhelmingly voice our need for paid sick days and fair wages in a free and fair election,” said Terrence Wise, of the Fight for 15. “It’s sickening to me that corporations are trying to steal our victory away and quiet the will of the voters who made this win possible.”

The business groups asked the Missouri Supreme Court to find the law unconstitutional.

“While Proposition A is bad policy and will have extreme and detrimental effects on Missouri’s businesses, that is not the basis of this action,” the petition states. “Instead, the election irregularities and the constitutional violations are so significant that the election results must be overturned and Proposition A must be declared invalid.”

Missouri was among a several states where the minimum wage or sick leave was on the ballot this year.

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Protesters march around a McDonald's restaurant, Nov. 29, 2016, in Kansas City, Mo., as part of a national day of protest organized by Fight for $15 and United We Stand movements, seeking higher hourly wages, including for workers at fast-food restaurants and airports. (John Sleezer/The Kansas City Star via AP, file)

Alaska voters approved a similar measure, while voters in California rejected an effort to raise the minimum wage for most workers to $18 an hour. In Arizona, voters rejected a measure that would have allowed businesses to pay tipped workers 25% less than the minimum wage, provided that tips pushed their total pay above the minimum wage. In Massachusetts, voters defeated a measure that would have gradually raised the minimum wage for tipped employees until it matches the rate for other employees.

Nebraska voters approved a measure to require many employers to provide sick leave, but it will not change wages.

Business groups also argue that Missouri voters were misled about how much the law will cost local governments and which companies and workers it will apply to.

For example, government employees and workers at businesses that make less than $500,000 a year are exempt from the paid sick leave entitlements. A short summary of the ballot measure provided to voters did not describe all exempt employees.

No hearings have been scheduled yet for the lawsuit.

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