Low-wage Missouri employees who simply began accruing paid sick days this month at the moment are prone to lose them by the tip of August, courtesy of their Republican legislators.
Lawmakers within the state Senate accredited a invoice final week overturning new sick depart protections that voters had accredited by referendum in November 2024. The repeal handed 22-11 over a Democratic filibuster effort, with all however one Republican in help, after already passing the GOP-controlled state Home.
The invoice is now headed for the desk of Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, who suggested on Friday he would signal it.
If he does, employers within the state would now not be obligated to offer employees with one hour of sick depart for each 30 hours they work, capped at 56 hours per yr. The requirement would finish on Aug. 28, having solely gone into impact on Might 1.
Missourians had accredited the sick depart protections by a large margin, with practically 58% voting in help.
Richard von Glahn, coverage director on the employee heart Missouri Jobs with Justice, stated it was disappointing to see legislators reverse the need of their constituents. He famous that final week the state’s Republicans additionally proposed a brand new constitutional modification to nullify voter-approved abortion protections.
“Folks don’t like being informed they’re silly,” von Glahn informed HuffPost. “It’s actually a plague that’s contaminated the Republican Occasion right here.”
The brand new sick depart legislation additionally included a brand new system elevating the state’s minimal wage. A rise to $15 slated for subsequent yr will stay intact, however subsequent cost-of-living will increase will likely be blocked by the GOP repeal. Which means lawmakers or voters must approve any raises after 2026.
A spokesperson for Kehoe didn’t instantly reply Monday when requested in regards to the governor’s plans for the laws. Final week he called the repeal “an enormous situation to each small and enormous enterprise and financial builders.”
Not like different rich nations, the U.S. doesn’t require employers to offer sick depart. So an estimated 20% of employees go with out it, which means they lose a day’s pay after they need to take care of themselves or a beloved one who’s unwell. These with no entry to paid sick days are more likely to work in low-wage jobs, in accordance with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Kansas Metropolis Star by way of Getty Photos
With no federal legislation in place, a rising variety of states and localities are approving their very own — together with those that lean conservative. Referendums much like Missouri’s additionally passed in Alaska and Nebraska final fall, giving backers of the proposals a manner round GOP opposition in legislatures. These poll measures introduced the entire variety of states with sick depart mandates to 18.
Enterprise teams opposed the sick depart measure in Missouri and shortly tried to scuttle the brand new legislation by way of a authorized problem. However the state Supreme Court docket in April upheld the outcomes of the referendum, generally known as Proposition A, leaving the state legislature the principle avenue for repeal.
Von Glahn stated the labor and public well being teams that supported the legislation sought a compromise with the state’s GOP legislators, proposing a carveout in order that corporations with 10 or fewer workers can be exempt. Beneath that situation, greater than 80% of employees within the state would nonetheless have protections, however the smallest employers wouldn’t be certain to the legislation, he stated.
“That’s sort of the definition of a compromise,” von Glahn stated. “They walked away from it and by no means actually got here again into critical conversations about it.”
He referred to as the procedural maneuver Republicans used to finish the Democratic filibuster final Wednesday a “nuclear possibility” to push the repeal by way of. The state’s legislative session ended on Friday.
For now, the prevailing legislation stays in impact, not less than till the tip of August. By then, many employers may have given their employees paid sick days for the primary time — and must resolve whether or not they wish to strip them away transferring ahead. Doing so may save on labor prices, however runs the chance of alienating loyal workers.
Backers of the sick depart legislation are additionally free to pursue one other referendum. Von Glahn stated he filed paperwork for one the day after the Senate voted for repeal. If supporters collect sufficient signatures, an identical proposal may find yourself on the poll within the fall of 2026.
Von Glahn is optimistic about its probabilities.
“Do I believe Missouri voters who handed one thing with 58% help would go it once more, most likely with greater help, in the event that they’re informed politicians took it away from [them]? Sure,” he stated. “I don’t assume that’s a tough marketing campaign.”
