HOUSE BILL NO. 1932 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SMITH (74).
4875H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To amend chapter 290, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to mandatory employee meal periods, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 290, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be 2 known as section 290.180, to read as follows: 290.180. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean: 2 (1) "Department", the department of labor and industrial relations; 3 (2) "Meal period" or "meal break", an approved period of time in a nonwork 4 status that interrupts a basic workday or a period of overtime work for the purpose of 5 permitting employees to eat or engage in permitted personal activities, which may be 6 paid or unpaid. A "meal period" shall provide bona fide breaks in the workday. If an 7 employee is not excused from job duties, or if he or she is recalled to job duties, the 8 employee is entitled to pay for compensable work, including work that is de minimis in 9 nature. 10 2. Except as provided under subsection 4 of this section, every employer in this 11 state shall allow its employees a meal period of not less than thirty consecutive minutes 12 for each eight-hour shift. In no event shall an employee be at the place of employment 13 for a period longer than five and one-half hours without a meal break. 14 3. Nothing in this section requires the employer to pay the employee during the 15 meal break.
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 1932 2
16 4. This section does not apply to employment that is covered by a valid 17 collective-bargaining agreement or other written agreement between an employer and 18 employee. The department may grant exemptions to employers in cases where: 19 (1) Requiring compliance would adversely affect public safety; 20 (2) The duties of a position may be performed by only one employee; 21 (3) The employer employs fewer than five employees on a shift at a single place 22 of business, provided the exemption shall apply only to the employees on such shift; or 23 (4) The continuous nature of an employer's operations requires that employees 24 be available to respond to urgent or unusual conditions at all times and such employees 25 are compensated for meal periods. 26 5. Any employer who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a 27 fine of not less than three hundred dollars, increased by an additional three hundred 28 dollars for each subsequent violation, but not to exceed one thousand two hundred 29 dollars for each violation. 30 6. The department may promulgate all necessary rules and regulations for the 31 administration of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in 32 section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall 33 become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 34 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable 35 and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to 36 review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently 37 held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or 38 adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void. ✔
Statutes affected: