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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1932
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE SMITH (74).
4875H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o 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 r elations;
3 (2) "Meal period" or "meal br eak", an appr oved 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 pr ovide bona fide br eaks in the workday . If an
7 employee is not excused fr om job duties, or if he or she is re called to job duties, the
8 employee is entitled to pay for compensable work, including work that is de minimis in
9 natur e.
10 2. Except as pr ovided 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 req uires the employer to pay the employee during the
15 meal br eak.
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 4. This section does not apply to employment that is cover ed by a valid
17 collective-bargaining agreement or other written agr eement between an employer and
18 employee. The department may grant exemptions to employers in cases wher e:
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, pro vided the exemption shall apply only to the employees on such shift; or
23 (4) The continuous nature of an employer's operations req uires that employees
24 be available to r espond to urgent or unusual conditions at all times and such employees
25 ar e compensated for meal periods.
26 5. Any employer who violates the pr ovisions of this section shall be subject to a
27 fine of not less than thr ee hundr ed dollars, increa sed by an additional thr ee hundr ed
28 dollars for each subsequent violation, but not to exceed one thousand two hundr ed
29 dollars for each violation.
30 6. The department may pr omulgate all necessary rules and r egulations 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 crea ted under the authority delegated in this section shall
33 become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provi sions 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 r eview , to delay the effective date, or to disappr ove and annul a rule are subsequently
37 held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or
38 adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void.
✔
HB 1932 2