The Circuit Court lifted an injunction today that will allow an ordinance passed by the City of St. Louis to go into effect, raising the minimum wage in the City of St. Louis to $10/hour, effective May 5, 2017. The minimum wage hike will effect 10,000 businesses in St. Louis and will cost many employees their jobs. Associated Industries of Missouri and other employer groups filed suit against the ordinance. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled against employers, invalidating an existing statute on a technicality.
“The short-sighted action by leaders in the City of St. Louis to increase the minimum wage in the City will actually hurt the very people they are trying to help,” said Ray McCarty, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri. “In this era of thin margins and high efficiency, employers have only bad choices: raise prices (reducing their ability to compete) or reduce costs through layoffs of minimum wage workers. Other businesses will also feel the impact of this decision by local politicians as the cost of labor increases. As we have said from the start, money still does not grow on trees.”
While the Missouri House worked quickly on a bill (HB 1194) to combat St. Louis’ minimum wage hike, the Senate has not taken action on the bill in over a month.
“The Missouri House of Representatives took quick action to reinstate the law pre-empting local minimum wage rates,” said McCarty. “The law was in effect for nearly twenty years before the Missouri Supreme Court invalidated the law because the original bill had too many subjects. This unusual decision required swift action by the General Assembly. The House did their part and passed a bill to the Senate within a week. The Senate passed the bill from committee but has not taken action on the bill in over a month. Employers, and ultimately minimum wage workers, will pay the price for this inaction as we fear many workers will be disappointed to find they will receive dismissal notices rather than the raise they expected and employers will lose some good workers.”
Exempted from the bill are employers that gross less than $500,000 per year or employ fewer than 15 workers. The minimum wage will not apply to employees who work less than 20 hours per calendar year.
Questions regarding the new minimum wage law may be directed to St. Louis City at minimumwage@stlouis-mo.gov or by calling (314) 589-6735. You may also visit the city’s website on the subject at www.stlouis-mo.gov/minimum-wage.
This is only the first step. The minimum wage in the City of St. Louis will increase to $11/hour effective January 1, 2018.
IMPORTANT NOTICE REQUIREMENTS AND A POSTER:
According to the City of St. Louis, the minimum wage notice linked below must be posted and included with an employee’s next pay.
There is also an optional “poster” notice which can be posted, in addition to the above-referenced notice, at an Employer’s premises, which is linked below.
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