JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The Missouri Department of Labor announces the state minimum wage rate for 2014 has been established, according to state law, at $7.50, effective January 1.
All businesses are required to pay at minimum, the $7.50 hourly rate, except retail and service businesses whose annual gross sales are less than $500,000. Per state law, the minimum wage rate is calculated once a year and may increase or decrease based on the cost of living as measured by the previous year’s Consumer Price Index. Missouri law does not allow the state’s minimum wage rate to be lower than the federal minimum wage rate.
Compensation for tipped employees must also total at least $7.50 per hour. Employers are required to pay tipped employees at least 50 percent of the minimum wage, or the amount necessary to bring the employee’s total compensation to a minimum of $7.50 per hour.
To learn more about minimum wage, visit www.labor.mo.gov/DLS/MinimumWage/.