Read the full stored bill text
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2285
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE CLEMENS.
5874H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 290, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to responsibilities
of employers.
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 290.1 16, to read as follows:
290.1 16. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Dir ector", the dir ector of the department of labor and industrial relat ions
3 or his or her authorized repr esentative;
4 (2) "Employee", the same meaning given to such term under section 290.500;
5 (3) "Employer", an individual or private business entity that employs a
6 workfor ce at an establishment. For purposes of this section, "employer" also includes
7 any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or any person or gr oup of persons
8 acting dir ectly or indirect ly in the interes t of an employer in rel ation to an employee and
9 includes any person who, dir ectly or indirect ly , owns and operates a nominal employer
10 or who owns a corporate subsidiary that, dir ectly or indirect ly , owns and operates a
11 nominal employer or makes the decision res ponsible for the employment action that
12 gives rise to a mass layoff subject to notification;
13 (4) "Establishment", a place of employment that has been operated by an
14 employer for a period longer than thr ee years, pr ovided that "establishment" shall not
15 include a temporary construction site. The term "establishment" may include a single
16 location or a gro up of locations, including any building located in this state;
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.
17 (5) "Mass layoff", a redu ction in the size of a workfor ce that is not the res ult of a
18 transfer or termination of operations and that res ults in the termination of employment
19 at an establishment during any thirty-day period for fifty or mor e employees at or
20 r eporting to the establishment;
21 (6) "Operating unit", an organizationally distinct prod uct, operation, or specific
22 work function within or acr oss facilities at a single establishment;
23 (7) "T ermination of employment", the layoff of an employee without a
24 commitment to reinst ate the employee to his or her pr evious employment within six
25 months of the layoff, except that "termination of employment" shall not mean a
26 voluntary departur e or ret irem ent of an employee, a discharge or suspension of an
27 employee for misconduct of the employee connected with the employment, or any layoff
28 of a seasonal employee. "T ermination of employment" shall not ref er to any situation in
29 which an employer offers to an employee, at a location in this state and no mor e than
30 fifty miles fro m the previ ous place of employment, the same employment or a position
31 with equivalent status, benefits, pay , and other terms and conditions of employment. A
32 layoff of mor e than six months that, at its outset, was announced to be a layoff of six
33 months or less, shall not be consider ed a "termination of employment" if the extension
34 beyond six months is caused by business cir cumstances not re asonably for eseeable at the
35 time of the initial layoff and notice is given at the time it becomes r easonably fore seeable
36 that the extension beyond six months will be requ ired;
37 (8) "T ermination of operations", the permanent or temporary shutdown of a
38 single establishment or of one or mor e facilities or operating units within a single
39 establishment, except that "termination of operations" shall not include a termination
40 of operations made necessary because of a fir e, flood, natural disaster , national
41 emergency , act of war , civil disorder , industrial sabotage, decertification from
42 participation in the Medicare and Medicaid pr ograms as described under 42 U.S.C.
43 Section 1395 et seq., or any license revo cation under the laws of this state;
44 (9) "T ransfer of operations", the permanent or temporary transfer of a single
45 establishment, or one or mor e facilities or operating units within a single establishment,
46 to another location, inside or outside of this state.
47 2. If an establishment is subject to a transfer of operations or a termination of
48 operations that res ults, during any continuous period of no mor e than thirty days, in the
49 termination of employment of fifty or mor e employees, or if an employer conducts a
50 mass layoff, the employer who operates the establishment or conducts the mass layoff
51 shall:
52 (1) Pr ovide, in the case of an employer who employs one hundred or mor e
53 employees, no less than ninety days or the period of time requi red under the federal
HB 2285 2
54 W orker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. Section
55 2101 et seq., whichever is longer , before the first termination of employment occurs in
56 connection with the termination or transfer of operations or mass layoff, notification of
57 the termination or transfer of operations or mass layoff to the dir ector , the chief elected
58 official of any municipality in which the establishment is located, each employee whose
59 employment is to be terminated, and any collective bargaining units of employees at the
60 establishment;
61 (2) Pr ovide, to each employee whose employment is terminated, severance pay
62 equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment. If the employer prov ides any
63 employee with less than the number of days of notification r equir ed under subdivision
64 (1) of this subsection, the employer shall pr ovide that employee with an additional four
65 weeks of pay . The rate of severance pay provi ded by the employer under this
66 subdivision shall be the average re gular rate of compensation received during the
67 employee's last thr ee years of employment with the employer or the final reg ular rate of
68 compensation paid to the employee, whichever rate is higher . Severance under this
69 subsection shall be reg arded as compensation due to an employee for back pay and
70 losses associated with the termination of the employment relat ionship and earned in full
71 upon the termination of the employment rel ationship, notwithstanding the calculation of
72 the amount of the payment with ref erence to the employee’ s length of service. An
73 employer shall provi de an employee the great er of:
74 (a) The severance pay r equir ed under this subdivision; or
75 (b) Any severance pay pro vided by the employer pursuant to a collective
76 bargaining agre ement or for any other rea son.
77
78 Any back pay prov ided by the employer to the employee under the W orker Adjustment
79 and Retraining Notification Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 2101 et seq., because of a violation of
80 that act, shall be credi ted toward meeting the severance pay req uirements of this
81 subdivision.
82 3. No waiver of the right to severance pr ovided under this section shall be
83 effective without appr oval of the waiver by the dir ector or by a court of competent
84 jurisdiction.
85 4. The department of labor and industrial relat ions may pro mulgate all
86 necessary rules and regu lations for the administration of this section. Any rule or
87 portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is creat ed under the
88 authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is
89 subject to all of the pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This
90 section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the
HB 2285 3
91 general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to revie w , to delay the effective date, or to
92 disappr ove and annul a rule ar e subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of
93 rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be
94 invalid and void.
✔
HB 2285 4