The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has announced the state minimum wage has been increased to $12.00 per hour effective January 1, 2023.

Proposition B, which was approved by Missouri voters in 2018 provided that the minimum wage would increase 85 cents per hour each year through 2023. Private businesses are required to pay the minimum except for retail and service businesses whose gross annual revenues are less than $500,000. The minimum wage law does not apply to public employers or allow the state’s minimum wage rate to be lower than the federal minimum wage.

Compensation for tipped employees also has to total at least $12.00 per hour. Employers are required to pay tipped employees at least 50 percent of the minimum wage, plus any amount necessary to bring total compensation to the minimum.