MISSOURI - Workers’ Rights

Definition of agricultural worker under state law:

Missouri does not define agricultural workers, but incorporates the federal Fair Labor Standards (FLSA) definition of agriculture. (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(1))

Wages and Overtime

Minimum Wage

• Missouri has a state law regarding minimum wage: (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.502)
• There are different minimum wage rates for public employees and tipped workers. 
• Missouri’s hourly minimum wage is:
  • $12 effective Jan. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2023.
• Starting in 2024, the state’s hourly minimum wage will be annually adjusted for inflation based on the consumer price index and rounded to the nearest five cents.
• Some agricultural workers are exempt from the state minimum wage. Specific exemption applies for agricultural workers at employers who use less than 500 man-days of agricultural labor per quarter, employer’s family members, employees working on a piece rate basis, and those working in the range production of livestock. (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.507)

Overtime

• Missouri has a state law regarding overtime pay beyond forty hours in a workweek. (MO. REV. STAT. § 290.505, Mo. Code Regs. Ann. tit. 8, § 30-4.010 et seq.)
• Agricultural workers are excluded from overtime pay. (MO. REV. STAT. §§ 290.505(3)&(4))

State Enforcement Agency

Missouri Department of Labor & Industrial Relations

Website: https://labor.mo.gov/
Relevant Forms: https://labor.mo.gov/pubs-and-forms 

Occupational Safety and Health

Workers’ Compensation

• Agricultural employers are exempt from the requirement to provide workers’ compensation coverage (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 287.090(1)(1). Nevertheless, agricultural employers may elect to provide workers’ compensation coverage to employees. (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 287.090(2). 

State Enforcement Agency:
Department of Labor & Industrial Relations

Website: https://labor.mo.gov/dwc
Relevant Forms: https://labor.mo.gov/sites/labor/files/pubs_forms/WC-21-A-AI.pdf

Field Sanitation

• Missouri does not have a state law regarding field sanitation. 

Federal Enforcement Agency:
US DOL, Missouri OSHA Office

Website: https://www.osha.gov/contactus/bystate/MO/areaoffice

Pesticide Safety

• Missouri has a state law regarding pesticide safety in agriculture. (Missouri Pesticide Use Act Mo. Rev. Stat. § 281.010 – 281.115).
• Suspected pesticide poisoning is a reportable illness for health care providers. Any pesticide-related exposure is required to be reported within three days by physicians, hospitals, laboratories, and other health professionals. 

State Enforcement Agency:
Missouri Department of Agriculture 

Website: https://agriculture.mo.gov/plants/pesticides/ 

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Section for Disease Prevention

Form: https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/communicabledisease/pdf/reportablediseaselist2.pdf  

Right to Join Unions and Collective Bargaining in Agriculture

• There is no provision (or judicial interpretation of a provision) in the state constitution that grants farmworkers the right to join and organize labor unions free from retaliation or to engage in collective bargaining with their employers.
• There is no state statute that grants agricultural workers the right to join and organize labor unions free from retaliation (such as being fired, demoted or disciplined) or to engage in collective bargaining with agricultural employers.

State Legal Services Organizations

Legal Aid of Western Missouri
https://lawmo.org/

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri

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Migrant Farm Workers Assistance Fund
http://www.migrantfarmworkersaf.org/