This morning, the St. Louis City Court lifted its permanent injunction against the City’s minimum wage increase in accordance with the mandate issued by the Missouri Supreme Court in late April. While the new minimum wage ($10/hour) is technically now in effect, the City will start enforcing the new minimum wage effective tomorrow (May 5, 2017). Employers should make necessary adjustments to ensure they are in compliance with the new minimum wage beginning on May 5, 2017.
Employers are required to post a notice at their facilities regarding the new minimum wage increase and also to include a similar notice with an employee’s first paycheck after the ordinance goes into effect. Although the City’s Department of Human Services is responsible for creating a sample notice/poster, they have not yet done so to my knowledge. Clients can use the attached sample notice (generated by the City a while back) as a template. They will need to change the $8.25/hour number in the attached notice to $10/hour and change the effective date from October 15, 2015 to May 5, 2017, with the rate increasing to $11/hour on January 1, 2018. Please note that the ordinance exempts employers with 15 OR FEWER EMPLOYEES (not “less than 15 employees” as erroneously indicated on the City’s attached notice). So your clients would need to make that change in their own notice too.
That being said, there is a bill that has passed the Missouri house, currently sitting in the Missouri senate, to “undo” the City’s minimum wage hike. The bill essentially prohibits cities, municipalities, etc. from setting any minimum wage that is different from (i.e., higher than) the state minimum wage. I believe the bill would essentially negate the City’s ordinance raising the minimum wage. Unfortunately, because that bill has not yet been formally passed in the senate and hasn’t been signed by the Governor, the City’s minimum wage increase has now gone into effect (at least for the moment) until such time as the bill passes out of the senate and is signed by the Governor. The bill will become effective immediately upon signature by the Governor.
You can find more information here: Minimum Wage Notice
The most recent information on the status of the minimum wage increase can be found on the City’s website listed below.
https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/mayor/news/minimum-wage-increase-bill-signed.cfm
For more information you can contact Attorney Theresa A. Phelps.