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By TIM ROWDEN
Editor-in-Chief
How will voters’ approval of Missouri’s Proposition A, increasing the minimum wage and allowing all workers to accrue paid sick time, impact union workplaces? Is there a difference for workers, such as in the construction industry, who work for multiple contractors in a single year?
Under Prop. A, Missouri’s minimum wage will increase from $12.30 an hour to $13.75 on Jan. 1, 2025; and $15 on Jan. 1, 2026 – followed by annual cost-of-living adjustments so the minimum wage does not lose purchasing power in the future. Beginning May 1, 2025, employees will be able to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.
So how will these changes impact union workers? The St. Louis Labor Council posed these questions to attorneys Jim Faul and Alexandria Schaefer of the Labor law firm Hartnett Reyes-Jones, who provided a lengthy brief explaining how the accrued sick time will be applied and how that will apply to union workplaces, including union members who work for multiple employees, such as in the construction industry. An abbreviated version focusing on frequently asked questions (FAQs) is provided here.
DOES PROP. A APPLY TO UNIONIZED WORKPLACE
Yes, Prop. A applies to unionized workplaces. However, it does not begin until the next contract or a revision to a current contract, if a contract is in effect on Nov. 5, 2024.
WHEN DOES PROP. A GO INTO EFFECT?
For all workplaces, earned sick time begins to accrue on May 1, 2025 – but there is a delay until the next collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for agreements that existed on Nov. 5, 2024 and are still unexpired without modification on May 1, 2025. Employers must post notices and provide employees with information on their earned sick time policies starting April 15, 2025. Employees hired after April 15, 2025, shall receive written notice about earned paid sick time within 14 calendar days of employment.
WHAT CAN EARNED PAID SICK TIME BE USED FOR?
- An employee’s mental or physical illness, injury or health condition
- An employee’s need for a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
- An employee’s need for preventative medical care.
- Care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
- Care for a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition.
- Care for a family member who needs preventative medical care.
- Closure of the employee’s place of business; employee’s child in their care school; or care for oneself or a family member when it has been determined by the health authorities having jurisdiction or by a health care provider that the employee’s or family member’s presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others because of their exposure to a communicable disease.
- Absence necessary due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking provided the leave to allow the employee to obtain for the employee or the employee’s family member: (i) medical attention needed to recover from physical or psychological injury or disability caused by the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; (ii) services from a victim services organization, (iii) psychological or other counseling, (iv) relocation or taking steps to secure an existing home, or (v) legal services.
DOES PROP. A LIMIT A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING REPRESENTATIVE’S ABILITY TO BARGAIN OVERPAID SICK TIME?
No, Prop. A creates a floor, not a ceiling. Bargaining representatives can propose bargaining for increased earned paid sick time provisions.
HOW ARE HOURS CARRIED OVER EACH YEAR?
A maximum of 80 hours earned paid sick time can be carried over year by year. Therefore, if:
- An employee works full time starting May 2, 2025
- Accrues 70 earned paid sick time hours of in 2025
- Does not use any earned paid sick time in 2025, that worker can carry over all 70 hours into the next year and start 2026 with 70 hours earned paid sick time.
Thereafter, if that same employee accrues an additional 70 hours by the end of 2027, the worker has accrued 140 paid sick time hours.
However, when that employee continues to work and accrue hours in 2028, at the end of 2028, 150 hours are accrued but only 80 hours are legally required to be carried over.
Regardless of the amount of paid sick time carried over, an employee can only use a max of either 56 or 40 hours (depending on the size of the employer), unless otherwise agreed upon. Moreover, a maximum of 80 earned paid sick hours is carried over each year, no matter how many hours have been earned.
A link to Prop. A can be found at: https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Elections/Petitions/2024-038.pdf.
