Missouri Minimum Wage Increases to $10.30 per hour on January 1

2021 is a new year and with it comes a new set of laws, rules, and guidelines. Are you prepared?

The Minimum Wage Rate in Missouri for private employers changed effective January 1, 2021. The Governor’s office announced the new rate is $10.30 per hour. All private businesses are required to pay at least the minimum hourly rate, except retail and service businesses whose annual gross sales are less than $500,000. They are still covered under the Federal Minimum Wage Law.

As a result of the voter-approved Proposition B in November of 2018, the minimum wage will increase 85 cents per hour each year through 2023 ultimately resulting in a minimum wage of $12 per hour in that year. Compensation for tipped employees must also total at least $10.30 per hour and employers are required to pay tipped employees at least 50 percent of the minimum wage – or $5.15 per hour, plus any amount necessary to bring the employee’s total compensation to the minimum of $10.30.

Missouri law does not apply to public employers, nor does it allow the state’s minimum wage rate to be lower than the federal minimum wage rate which currently stands at $7.25 per hour.

Coming out of a challenging 2020, some businesses may struggle to meet these wages. However, very soon we will know the details and rules of the new PPP forgivable loan program recently passed and signed into law.