SB 1614 - This act creates the Missouri Earned Family and Medical Leave Act. GENERALLY Under this act, all employees who are not independent contractors are eligible to receive up to six weeks each year of wage replacement benefits for any of the following reasons: • To bond with a minor child within the first year of birth or placement in connection with foster care or adoption; • To care for a family member with a serious health condition; • To tend to one's own serious health condition; or • To assume any familial responsibility because a spouse, child, or parent of an employee is on, or has been notified of an impending call to, active duty in the armed forces. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is responsible for administering the program. An employee is eligible for benefits equal to 100% of his or her average weekly pay for each full week taken for family or medical leave. However, an employee's average weekly wage may not be higher than the average state weekly wage. An employee may take partial weeks of leave but will only receive benefits equal to the fraction of the number of days of leave taken divided by the number of the days that the employee would have otherwise worked. An employee may additionally only take leave in full day increments. APPLYING FOR BENEFITS An employee has 41 days following the first day on which he or she begins to take family or medical leave to file a claim for benefits with the Department. Furthermore, an employee may not receive benefits until they have contributed to the Missouri Earned Family and Medical Leave Fund for at least 52 weeks. An employee may not receive benefits on any day for which they are eligible to receive unemployment or workers' compensation benefits. Leave taken under this act must be taken concurrently with leave taken under the federal Family Medical Leave Act. Each employee applying for benefits shall show, on a certificate provided by the Department, that he or she is entitled to family or medical leave. An employee seeking to take leave under this act shall provide at least 30 days notice to their employer if the reason for leave is foreseeable. If it is not practicable, notice shall be given as soon as practicable. APPEALING DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY Employees are entitled to appeal a determination of eligibility by the Department to the Administrative Hearing Commission. A notice of appeal shall be sent to the Commission within 30 days of the receipt of the determination by the employee. A decision by the Commission may be appealed to a court of competent jurisdiction. An employee is not entitled to appeal a determination of the amount of benefits received but may request a redetermination by the Department within one year of the initial determination. UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATORY ACTIONS It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee because he or she filed a claim for, indicated an intent to file a claim for, or has received Missouri earned family and medical leave benefits. Courts hearing such complaints may grant injunctive, equitable, or compensatory relief to employees. Complaints may be filed by either the employee or the Department. In the event that the Department files a complaint, the employee is thereafter barred from bringing his or her own action. In any event, a discrimination claim shall be brought within three years. OUTREACH AND REPORTS The Department is required to develop and implement an outreach program to make employees aware of their rights, duties, and responsibilities under this act. The State Auditor is required to complete an audit of the program by January 1, 2033. MISSOURI EARNED FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE FUND The Missouri Earned Family and Medical Leave Fund is created. An employee is required to contribute .025% of his or her average weekly pay to the fund, provided that the total wages used to compute the contribution rate shall not exceed the contribution and benefit base used to calculate Social Security taxes. If, at the discretion of the Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, there is not a sufficient amount of funds in the fund to satisfy all claims, the director is permitted to reduce the benefit amount each employee will receive. Contributions to the program may begin January 1, 2028, but no employee may receive benefits until January 1, 2030. All employee contributions are pre-tax and not considered part of the adjusted gross income. REFERENDUM CLAUSE The act contains a referendum clause to be presented to the voters at the 2026 general election. This act is identical to SB 1069 (2024) and substantially similar to HB 3226 (2026), SB 751 (2025), HB 2597 (2024), SB 548 (2023), HB 1126 (2023), SB 729 (2022), HB 2222 (2022), HB 2822 (2022), SB 416 (2021), HB 1372 (2021), SB 565 (2020), HB 2542 (2020), SB 162 (2019), SB 607 (2018), HB 1956 (2018), SB 69 (2017), HB 659 (2017), SCS/SB 291 (2017), HB 1059 (2017), and SB 1049 (2016), and similar in concept to SB 945 (2024), HB 2505 (2024), SB 193 (2023), HB 1255 (2023), SB 54 (2017), SB 983 (2016), and HB 1161 (2015). SCOTT SVAGERA
SB 1718 modifies Missouri's workers' compensation law by revising the definition of "employer" and strengthening fraud penalties. It expands the definition to include political subdivisions (like cities and school districts) and clarifies that construction employers need five or more employees (not one) to be covered, counting family members toward that threshold. The bill also adds strict penalties for fraud, making false claims a class E felony (up to 4 years in prison) and multiple claims for the same injury a class A misdemeanor, with fines up to double the fraud amount or $10,000. These changes directly affect employers, insurers, and workers filing claims by tightening eligibility rules and increasing consequences for deceptive practices.
HB 3072 modifies workers' compensation benefits for injured workers by updating weekly payment formulas based on injury dates. It sets specific percentage rates (66.67% of average weekly earnings) with caps ranging from 70% to 105% of the state's average weekly wage, depending on when the injury occurred. The bill also establishes a $40 weekly minimum, clarifies that death benefits for permanent total disability do not pass to dependents, and creates special provisions for toxic exposure cases - requiring employers to pay up to 200 weeks of benefits for non-mesothelioma diseases and 312 weeks for mesothelioma (with employer election options until 2038). These changes directly affect workers injured on the job and their dependents in cases of permanent disability or death.
HB 3032 strengthens fraud prevention in Missouri's workers' compensation system by adding criminal penalties for false claims and insurance violations. It makes it a felony to submit multiple claims for the same injury, present false information to obtain benefits, or intentionally refuse valid claims, with fines paid back to the workers' compensation fund. Employers with five or more employees (or construction employers with five or more) must carry insurance, and failure to do so results in escalating penalties. The bill also creates a dedicated fraud unit within the workers' compensation division to investigate violations and enforce these new provisions.
HB 2855 modifies Missouri's workers' compensation tax system by establishing a 2% tax on insurers' net premiums and a separate annual surcharge (up to 3%) for the Second Injury Fund. It requires all workers' compensation insurers, self-insuring employers (including state agencies and local governments), and policyholders to pay these taxes/surcharges on premiums or assessments. The surcharge is calculated annually to cover 110% of expected Second Injury Fund payments, based on prior year's premiums, and must be collected quarterly by insurers. All surcharge revenue funds the Second Injury Fund, which supports workers with pre-existing injuries aggravated by workplace accidents.
HB 2681 allows volunteer fire departments, counties, municipalities, or groups of employers to purchase supplemental workers' compensation insurance for volunteer firefighters injured while on duty. This supplemental coverage provides additional payments beyond standard workers' compensation benefits, including temporary disability payments. Entities already self-insuring their workers' compensation (like volunteer fire departments) may optionally fund this coverage through their existing self-insurance plans or use general tax revenues not designated for other purposes. The bill modifies existing rules to clarify how this optional supplemental coverage can be arranged and paid for.
HB 2983 changes workers' compensation rules so that if an employee dies and has no dependents, payments can go directly to certain family members instead of being held by the estate. It specifically allows payments to adult children (even if too old to be dependents), parents, grandparents, siblings, or other close relatives defined in the bill. The bill explicitly rejects a 2007 Missouri court case (Schoemehl v. Treasurer) that had previously limited these payments to dependents only. This affects families of deceased workers who currently might not receive compensation due to lack of qualifying dependents.
HB 2566 removes the expiration date (sunset provision) from Missouri's Line of Duty Compensation Act, making the death benefit permanent. The law provides $100,000 in compensation to survivors of public safety officers (including firefighters, law enforcement, EMTs, and air ambulance crew) who die "in the line of duty" due to work-related injuries, illness, or violence. Previously, this benefit would have expired after a set period without legislative renewal. The bill ensures survivors of qualifying officers will continue to receive this payment without needing future legislative action to extend it.
SB 956 modifies Missouri's workers' compensation law (RSMo §287.120, §287.240, §537.610) to clarify employer liability and adjust benefit amounts based on specific circumstances. It directly affects most Missouri employees and employers covered by workers' comp, requiring employers to pay for work-related injuries but allowing benefits to increase (25-50%) if employers violate safety standards or decrease/forfeit (up to 50% or fully) if employees fail to use safety equipment, use alcohol/drugs at work (with strict testing rules), or participate in recreational activities without employer authorization. The bill also limits mental health claims to "extraordinary and unusual" work stress and specifies that disciplinary actions don't qualify as compensable stress. These changes define concrete policy adjustments to benefit calculations without advocating for or against the law.
