Missouri has no legislation requiring policies on paid hours of vacation time for private employees.
It is a matter that full-time regular employees must discuss with their employer.
No Missouri sick leave laws also require private companies to provide insurance, medical leave rights, and other health benefits.
Let’s learn about the current medical leave time laws, their benefits for employees in the Show-Me State, and other related topics.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
The employer must comply with the policy on sick leave, vacation time, personal days, and other paid time off (PTO) written on their employment contract.
In addition, you’re entitled to have leaves of absence status from work for several reasons under Missouri and federal law.
For instance, if you are caring for a sick relative or recuperating from childbirth, you may utilize the FMLA to take some time off.
This law provides unpaid, job-protected leave.
Additional leave rights are provided by Missouri law, including jury duty and election day time off.
Overview
The FMLA lets eligible employees take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for medical reasons such as:
- Own serious health condition
- Family Illness
- Newborn child
- Certain health issues related to the military service of a family member
Other reasons like caring for their child after birth, foster care, or adoption placement are also valid reasons for using FMLA.
This federal law covers all employers in the United States with 50 employees or more.
Eligible employees are those who have at least 12 months of service in the company.
Or, they also must have logged 1,250 actual work hours in the 12 months before taking leave.
Depending on the circumstances, eligible employees may take their FMLA leave intermittently or for consecutive weeks.
Employers must provide eligible employees time off to care for their family members who suffer from serious health conditions for up to 26 weeks.
Missouri workers may apply for leave to care for extended military family members.
If they’re next of kin to an injured service member due to military duty, it’s considered an FMLA-qualifying reason.
Some states have specific laws about family medical leave, which may grant extra sick leave benefits like paid time off.
For example, a family and medical leave law applies to small businesses and offers additional leave credits.
Another is allowing an employee to be on a period of absence to care for their extended family member with catastrophic illness.
Other states additionally allow time off for justifiable reasons, such as dealing with the impact of domestic abuse or attending a child’s school activities.
Yet, Missouri does not mandate private employers to provide similar employee benefits beyond those provided by the federal FMLA.
Missouri Sick Leave Laws For State Employees
State team members who are employed in full-time positions, either continuous or permanent, are entitled to earn sick leave.
They’ll get five hours of medical leave on compensatory time every pay period for every half-month period on which they work 80 hours on average.
When they retire, they can convert the unused sick leave hours into retirement service credit.
Suppose a state employee undergoes separation from employment or termination of employment but rejoins within five years.
The state mandates that their sick leave balance is reactivated.
Sick leave for state employees is also prorated for those in eligible positions who work at least 40 hours each pay period.
The agency appointing departmental approval authority is responsible for granting, approving, and managing sick leave.
In some cases, the appointing authority may restrict multiple consecutive leave periods to minimize the negative impact on continuous operations.
Missouri State University Sick Leave Policy
Paid sick leave is a benefit available to all full-time regular university employees.
Members of clinical faculty, 12-month faculty, and full-time, 9-month faculty positions are also considered full-time staff employees.
Sick leave is spendable for personal illness, pregnancy, job injuries, or other health concerns.
To ensure there won’t be a noticeable impact on normal operations, the university may restrict approving leave for consecutive weeks.
Employees may not always need to use their sick leave.
For instance, when Springfield campus employees have an appointment or receive medical treatment at one of the on-campus health care providers.
However, if one of the on-campus health care providers refers the employee to an appointment off-campus, sick leave may be applicable.
Overview
The sick leave benefit for employees is only usable when time is earned and registered at the end of every month.
Employees on duty for four 10-hour consecutive workdays per regular work week have to record 10 hours on their leave report or timesheet.
Every time one day of sick leave is used, the employee’s leave balance will be lower.
Employees who cannot report for their respective duties due to medical illness must contact their supervisor as soon as possible.
An agency supervisor could require a statement from a licensed health care provider or other legitimate proof of illness or injury.
That is, of course, unless the ailment is a work-related injury.
Sick Leave Definition
Earned sick leave is defined as an allotment of days granted to all academic administrators/professionals while on duty.
Before July 1992, sick leave allocation was set at 120 days initial allotment and was formerly labeled as backup sick leave.
Catastrophic Medical Leave
Request for catastrophic medical leave rests on the decision of the cost center administrator.
To be eligible, the employee may have to provide an authentic, comprehensive list of their specific medical conditions.
They also have to fill out a catastrophic medical leave request form.
The administrators must cover any additional expenses required because of allowing a catastrophic medical leave period, like the hourly rate of a temporary employee.
If the cost center administrator rejects the request, the employee may take it up to the university president for an appeal.
Unused Leave
Unused vacation days not spent before the start of the faculty position responsibilities are convertible to supplemental payment.
For the same scenario, unused sick leave days will remain and be added to the current earned sick leave credits.
Before starting a nine-month faculty position, employers should pay employees their unused vacation days.
Also, retired academic professionals and administrators who served in an eligible 12-month position will get paid for all earned, unused vacation time.
Final Thoughts
As mentioned earlier, no Missouri sick leave laws grant employees vacation benefits and other related perks.
The local government and state universities have comprehensive leave policies of their own.
Still, there is no law that private Missouri employers are not allowed to offer similar benefits.
Nevertheless, the state is teeming with private employers having employees with vacation benefits, especially for extraordinary reasons.
Sick leave benefits in the private sector have varying accrual rates, and the FMLA only slightly touches these policies.
