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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1745
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE MILLER.
3899H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 290.527, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to
additional requirements for employees filing certain employment complaints, with
penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 290.527, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as section 290.527, to read as follows:
290.527. 1. Any employer who pays any employee less wages than the wages to
2 which the employee is entitled under or by virtue of sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall be
3 liable to the employee affected for the full amount of the wage rate and an additional amount
4 equal to twice the unpaid wages as liquidated damages, less any amount actually paid to the
5 employee by the employer and for costs and such reasonable [ attorney ] attorney's fees as
6 may be allowed by the court or jury . The employee may bring any legal action necessary to
7 collect the claim , subject to the pro visions of subsections 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this section . Any
8 agreement between the employee and the employer to work for less than the wage rate shall
9 be no defense to the action. All actions for the collection of any deficiency in wages shall be
10 commenced within three years of the accrual of the cause of action.
11 2. (1) For all employee-initiated complaints r elating to a violation of the state
12 minimum wage or overtime laws arising on or after January 1, 2027, as a jurisdictional
13 condition pre cedent to filing a civil action governing the subject matter of the complaint
14 for such causes, any employee who claims to be aggrieved by a violation of the state
15 minimum wage or overtime laws shall first file a complaint with the department on a
EXPLANA TION — 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.
16 form and in a manner pr ovided by the department and within the time limits prescrib ed
17 for the alleged violation, as pr ovided under subsections 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this section.
18 (2) The complaint shall include all pay periods for which the employee alleges
19 the violation. The complaint shall include pay stubs and time sheets as supporting
20 evidence that pro vides the basis for the complaint. Other relev ant documentation may
21 be included or supplemented as evidence at the employee's discret ion or as req uired by
22 the department or the division of labor standards. Only evidence submitted at the time
23 of the complaint shall be consider ed unless the employee needs to obtain documents
24 fr om the employer or as req uired as part of the investigation.
25 (3) All pay periods ending before the date of filing that are omitted fr om the
26 complaint shall be deemed to be in compliance and the employee waives any right to a
27 futur e complaint for omitted pay periods pr edating the complaint filing date arising
28 fr om the same alleged violation, to the extent allowed by the Fair Labor Standards Act
29 of 1938, as amended, and its accompanying regul ations and guidelines; T itle VII of the
30 Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and its accompanying r egulations and guidelines;
31 29 CFR Chapter V ; 29 CFR Chapter XIV ; or any other state or federal law or
32 r egulation, or fr om pr oviding any corro borating documentation to obtain such waiver
33 unless authorized to do so by a court.
34 3. (1) Upon recei pt of a complaint made under subsection 2 of this section, the
35 department shall investigate the allegations contained within the complaint and issue an
36 investigative repor t containing the findings of underpayment and liquidated damages as
37 pr ovided under this chapter or by general law for the violation at issue, if applicable.
38 (2) The department shall complete its investigation within ninety days of
39 r eceiving the complaint, unless an extension is agr eed upon by both the complainant
40 employee and the employer , and shall issue the investigative report containing the
41 department's findings and conclusions to both parties.
42 (3) If the department is unable to res olve the dispute, the complainant employee
43 is dissatisfied with the department's findings, or the complainant employee is
44 dissatisfied with and rej ects the employer's offer of settlement within the time frames
45 pr ovided under subsection 4 of this section, the department shall issue a "right to sue"
46 notice to the complainant employee to allow the employee to pr oceed with filing a
47 lawsuit in court under the pr ovisions of this section, chapter , or other applicable
48 pr ovisions of law for the alleged violation at issue. The "right to sue" notice shall
49 specify and be limited to the issues and violations indicated in the complaint.
50 (4) The employee shall have thirty days fr om the date of his or her r eceipt of the
51 "right to sue" notice to file a cause of action or suit in circu it court. Failur e to do so
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52 shall res ult in the waiver of the employee's right to file a cause of action or suit for the
53 alleged violation or violations.
54 4. (1) An employer may make an offer of settlement to the complainant
55 employee in exchange for terminating the complaint made under subsections 2 and 3 of
56 this section and a dismissal of such complaint with pr ejudice by the department. The
57 employer shall have thirty days fr om the date of r eceipt of the department's
58 investigative report containing the department's findings and conclusions to make an
59 offer of settlement to the employee.
60 (2) The employee shall have thirty days to consider the offer of settlement and
61 accept, re ject, or make a counter -offer of settlement to the employer , after the
62 department has issued its investigative report findings or before the "right to sue" letter
63 has been issued. Each party shall have thirty days to res pond to any counter -offers of
64 settlement made by the other party , except that if no settlement agr eement is reach ed
65 within one hundr ed eighty days fr om the date that the investigative repo rt and its
66 findings wer e issued, the department shall issue a "right to sue" notice to the employee
67 and close the administrative file.
68 (3) Acceptance of the offer or counter -offer of settlement shall res ult in the
69 waiver of the employee's right to sue for the specific violations alleged in the original
70 complaint. If the employee rej ects the settlement offer and all additional counter -offers,
71 or takes no action within the time period allowed for consideration of an offer or
72 counter -offer of settlement, or if a settlement agr eement cannot be rea ched within the
73 one-hundr ed-eighty-day period after the department's investigative rep ort and findings
74 wer e issued, the department shall issue a "right to sue" notice and the employee may
75 pr oceed in cir cuit court.
76 (4) The department shall administer the settlement pr ocess and, upon valid
77 acceptance of a settlement offer or counter -offer by both parties, shall issue a notice of
78 dismissal with pr ejudice stating that the employee has waived all rights to bring suit for
79 the specific violations alleged in the complaint and contained within the accepted offer
80 of settlement.
81 5. Records of the department's investigation and any settlement agr eements
82 negotiated during administrative investigation thr ough the duration of the complaint
83 pr ocess may be r eleased to a re questing party after obtaining written consent fr om both
84 the complainant employee and the employer , or fr om their res pective repr esentatives.
85 6. (1) Any employer found to have violated the pr ovisions of this section shall be
86 subject to penalties as pr ovided by law including, but not limited to, fines, r estitution,
87 and other re medies as deemed appr opriate by the court.
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88 (2) Any employee who files suit without first filing a complaint with the
89 department, as req uired by subsections 2, 3, and 4 of this section, shall have such suit
90 dismissed without pr ejudice and be requ ired to compensate the employer for all legal
91 fees and associated costs incurr ed as a res ult of noncompliance as determined by the
92 court.
93 (3) If an employee files suit after re ceipt of a "right to sue" notice and the court
94 finds that the damages awarded are equal to or less than the grea ter of the department's
95 finding or the employer's offer of settlement, subject to the applicability of the rules of
96 evidence, the employee shall be liable for all costs incurr ed by both parties in association
97 with the suit.
98 7. The department may pr omulgate all necessary rules and r egulations for the
99 administration of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in
100 section 536.010, that is crea ted under the authority delegated in this section shall
101 become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provi sions of chapter
102 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable
103 and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to
104 r eview , to delay the effective date, or to disappr ove and annul a rule are subsequently
105 held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or
106 adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void.
✔
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