Missouri Earned Paid Sick Time Law

Beginning May 1, 2025, WashU provides eligible employees with time off in accordance with the Missouri Paid Sick Time law (Proposition A passed by Missouri voters on November 4, 2024). Under the new law, eligible employees accrue one (1) hour of sick time for every 30 hours of work and carry over up to 80 hours annually.

WashU has sick leave policies in place which cover many employees. If an employee is covered by a university policy that provides more sick time than the new law requires, they will continue to be eligible for the time off under the existing policy for the reasons allowed under the Missouri law. Employees will continue to request and record time off in the same way.

The new law expands eligibility for paid sick time to some employees who are not covered by a university policy. Employees may be required to request and record sick time.

Sick Leave Uses

Eligible employees may use accrued paid sick time if they are unable to work for any of the following reasons.

• The employee or a family member has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition.
• The employee or a family member requires medical care, a medical diagnosis, or treatment, as well as receiving preventative medical care services.
• The employee’s place of employment has been ordered closed by a public official due to a public health emergency.
• The employee needs to care for a child whose school district has been ordered closed by a public official due to a public health emergency.
• The employee needs to be absent to attend to matters relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

For purposes of this policy, family member means any of the following individuals: children, parents, spouses, domestic partners, individuals with whom the employee is in a continuing social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, or persons for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety-related care.

Employees who are using earned paid sick time under the Missouri Paid Sick Time statute are not required to provide documentation until they have missed three (3) or more consecutive days of work. An employee may be required to provide a return-to-work statement from a medical provider. 

Accrual

Unless an employee is covered by a policy providing a higher accrual rate or higher annual allocation of sick time, sick time is accrued at a rate of 0.033333 per hour worked on or after May 1, 2025, and is available for use as of the end date of the pay period. There is no annual maximum accrual, however, only 80 hours of unused accrued sick time may be carried over to the next fiscal year. For example, if an employee with regular scheduled hours of less than 20 hours per week has 85 hours of accrued sick time at the end of a fiscal year, their accrued sick balance will be reduced to 80 hours as of July 1 and they will then accrue additional sick time at a rate of 0.033333 per hour paid.