Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Missouri
Last updated: Mar 03, 2026
Contribution
| Employer Payroll Contributions | |
| 0.00% – 6.65% | State Unemployment Insurance (SUI), applied on the first 9,500 USD of each employee’s wages.
The rates are determined based on the employer’s experience with unemployment claims and contributions. |
| 2.376% | State Unemployment Insurance – New Employer, applied on the first 9,500 USD of each employee’s wages. |
| 6.20% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) - Social Security, applied on salary up to 176,100 USD per year. |
| 1.45% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) – Medicare. An additional 0.9% should be withheld from employees earning above 200,000 USD per year. |
| 0.60% – 6.00% | Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), applied on salary up to 7,000 USD per year.Employers who pay their state unemployment tax in full and on time are eligible for a 5.4% tax credit, reducing the FUTA rate to 0.6%. |
| 10.76% – 22.676% | Total Employment Cost |
| Employee Payroll Contribution | |
| 6.20% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) - Social Security, applied on salary up to 176,100 USD per year. |
| 1.45% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) – Medicare.
An additional 0.9% should be withheld from employees earning above 200,000 USD per year. |
| 7.65% – 8.55% | Total Employee Cost |
| Employee Income Tax | |
| Missouri State Income Tax | Annual |
| 4.70% | Supplemental Wage/Bonus – applied on amounts outside of the regular income. |
| State Tax – Single | |
| 0.00% | Up to 1,273 USD |
| 2.00% | 1,273 – 2,546 USD |
| 2.50% | 2,546 – 3,819 USD |
| 3.00% | 3,819 – 5,092 USD |
| 3.50% | 5,092 – 6,365 USD |
| 4.00% | 6,365 – 7,638 USD |
| 4.50% | 7,638 – 8,911 USD |
| 4.80% | Above 8,911 USD |
| State Tax – Married – Joint Filing | |
| 0.00% | Up to 1,313 USD |
| 2.00% | 1,313 – 2,626 USD |
| 2.50% | 2,626 – 3,939 USD |
| 3.00% | 3,939 – 5,252 USD |
| 3.50% | 5,252 – 6,565 USD |
| 4.00% | 6,565 – 7,878 USD |
| 4.50% | 7,878 – 9,191 USD |
| 4.80% | Above 9,191 USD |
| Standard Deduction & Personal Exemption | |
| Single | 14,600 USD |
| Couple/Married – Joint Filing | 29,200 USD |
| St. Louis & Kansas City Additional Tax | |
| 1.00% | Applied on residents and those who work within the city limits. |
| Federal Employee Income Tax | Annual |
| Federal Tax – Singles | |
| 10.00% | Up to 11,925 USD |
| 12.00% | 11,925 – 48,475 USD |
| 22.00% | 448,475 – 103,350 USD |
| 24.00% | 103,350 – 197,300 USD |
| 32.00% | 197,300 – 250,525 USD |
| 35.00% | 250,525 – 626,350 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 626,350 USD |
| Federal Tax – Married – Joint Filing | |
| 0.00% | Up to 23,850 USD |
| 12.00% | 23,850 – 96,950 USD |
| 22.00% | 96,950 – 206,700 USD |
| 24.00% | 206,700 – 394,600 USD |
| 32.00% | 394,600 – 501,050 USD |
| 35.00% | 501,050 – 751,600 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 751,600 USD |
| Federal Tax – Heads of Household | |
| 10.00% | Up to 17,000 USD |
| 12.00% | 17,000 – 64,850 USD |
| 22.00% | 64,850 – 103,350 USD |
| 24.00% | 103,350 – 197,300 USD |
| 32.00% | 197,300 – 250,500 USD |
| 35.00% | 250,500 – 626,350 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 626,350 USD |
| Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption | |
| 15,000 USD | Single |
| 30,000 USD | Married Filing Jointly |
| 22,500 USD | Head of Household |
Minimum Wage
General
The minimum wage in Missouri is 13.75 USD per hour.
The Federal minimum wage rate is 7.25 USD per hour.
Payroll
Payroll Cycle
In general, employees are paid either semi-monthly (on the second and fourth Saturday of each month) or monthly, with payments on set dates as stipulated in the employment contract.
13th Salary
There are no provisions in the law regarding 13th salaries.
Working Hours
General
In Missouri, the standard workweek consists of a maximum of 40 hours per week or 8 hours per day.
Overtime
Missouri adheres to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and work in excess of 40 hours per week is considered overtime and paid at the rate of 150% of the regular pay.
If employees are scheduled to work on weekends or rest days, no additional payment is required.
However, should an employer request an employee to work in exceptional circumstances on these days, overtime is paid at the rate of 150% of the regular pay.
Leave
Annual Leave (vacation)
Missouri does not have any state laws that govern the amount and payment of vacation time.
However, it is common for employers to decide whether to offer paid or unpaid vacation leave.
This must comply with employment law and must be stipulated in collective bargaining agreements.
Public Holidays
Public holidays are not mandatory paid days off, but employers commonly allow workers to take federal holidays as paid days off.
Some companies might also agree to allow workers to take off state holidays; workers can find specific state holiday dates from their local government.
Usually when an agreed public holiday falls on a weekend, a day off in lieu is given on the Friday before or the Monday after the holiday.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2025 | Wednesday | New Year’s Day | |
| 20 Jan 2025 | Monday | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | |
| 17 Feb 2025 | Monday | Presidents Day | |
| 26 May 2025 | Monday | Memorial Day | |
| 19 Jun 2025 | Thursday | Juneteenth | |
| 4 Jul 2025 | Friday | Independence Day | |
| 1 Sep 2025 | Monday | Labor Day | |
| 13 Oct 2025 | Monday | Columbus Day | |
| 11 Nov 2025 | Tuesday | Veterans Day (applicable to veterans and active military only) | |
| 27 Nov 2025 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | |
| 28 Nov 2025 | Friday | Day After Thanksgiving | |
| 25 Dec 2025 | Thursday | Christmas Day |
Sick Days
It is common for an employer to follow the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain family and medical reasons (maternity leave, serious illnesses or if the employee needs to care for a spouse or child).
Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for their employer for at least one year, completed a minimum of 1,250 hours over the past year, and worked at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.
FMLA eligible employees are entitled to:
- 12 working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth.
- Leave for the adoption or foster care of a child and care for the newly placed child within one year of placement.
- Care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a severe health condition.
- Leave in the event of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
- Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.”
Or
- 26 working weeks of leave during a single one-year period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).
Maternity Leave
See Sick Leave above.
Paternity Leave
See Sick Leave above.
Parental Leave
See Sick Leave above.
Other Leave
- Missouri law requires all employers to provide their full-time employees job-protected, unpaid leave for jury duty, as a witness in a case, responding to a subpoena, or acting as a plaintiff or defendant in the courts.
Employees must provide a copy of the jury summons to the employer as evidence of requirement. - In addition to the federal law USERRA, Missouri law provides protection against discrimination for members of U.S. armed forces, reserves, National Guard, commissioned corps of the public health service, and any other category of persons designated by the president in a time of war or emergency.
- Missouri law states that all employees registered to vote must be allowed to take up to three hours of paid leave to vote in any municipal, county, state, or federal primary or general election. Employees must provide reasonable notice to their employers to take time off to vote.
PAID MATERNITY LEAVE (DAYS)
Termination
Termination Process
Except in mass dismissals or as provided for in an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement, U.S. law does not impose a formal notice period to terminate an individual employment relationship, and employment is stipulated “at will.
” This means that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship without giving either notice or reason, provided it is not illegal, notable discrimination on the grounds of a category protected by law, etc., and as per the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
The employment contracts of executives and other highly skilled individuals often incorporate a “just cause termination” clause which mandates that the employer may only terminate the employee for “cause” and lists the permissible grounds.
In such cases, the parties negotiate the foundations for a “just cause” termination.
| Salary payment interval / date | Final payment on termination | Bank account/payment-method requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Limited statutory requirements: For certain employers (manufacturing with 50+ employees; public service corporations) payment must be made at least every two weeks or twice per month, and no later than 10 days (manufacturing) or 15 days (public service) after the pay period ends. For other employers, there is no statewide statute specifying minimum frequency for wages. | No specific state statute mandates a fixed deadline for the final paycheck upon termination (voluntary or involuntary). Employers generally follow the next regularly scheduled payday or whatever contract / policy requires. | The law does not require payment exclusively via bank account. Employers may pay wages by cash, check, or other methods and direct deposit is permitted when authorized. |
Notice Period
In Missouri, most employees are employed “at-will,” and either party can terminate the employment relationship without notice. In Missouri, payout of unused vacation time is not required by law.
Still, generally, employers will pay an employee for unused vacation days, provided the employee gave some advanced notice of resignation; there is no official notice period. In general practice, two weeks’ notice is a minimum requirement.
In mass dismissal cases the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) must be followed, and employers must give 60 days’ notice to impacted employees.
Severance Pay
Except as otherwise provided in an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement, employers are not required to pay severance to terminated employees.
Employers who choose to offer severance would need to have the provisions outlined in the employee’s contract and agreed on by both parties. Many employers choose to offer severance based on the length of employment.
The most common in Missouri is one weeks’ pay for every year of employment.
Probation Period
There are no provisions in the law regarding probation or trial periods. However, it is common practice for employers to set a performance evaluation after an initially stated period of employment of 90 days.
Minimal Statutory Termination Costs
Some states require PTO balances to be paid out during termination, also any bonuses or commissions that were promised in the employment contract
Immigration
Foreign nationals without permanent resident status or a work visa are not permitted to work in the United States.
An employer seeking to hire a foreign national may file a petition with the United States Department of Homeland Security/United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an employment visa on behalf of the prospective employee.
If the petition is approved, the prospective employee must obtain a “visa stamp” from a United States embassy or consulate (Canadian citizens are exempt from this requirement).
To get a temporary U.S. work visa, an employer must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
An approved petition must be part of the visa request; the types of visas include:
- H-1B – for applicants with a college degree hired to do specialized work. The visa is valid for three years and can be extended for an additional three years. The visa is connected to the employer that filed the petition. If there is a change of employer, the new employer must repeat the process. There are 65,000 H-1B visas available each year.
- H-1B1 – for applicants with a college degree from Chile and Singapore. The US government grants up to 1,400 visas to Chilean citizens and 5,400 from Singapore each year.
- H-2A – for temporary or seasonal agriculture work. It is limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
- H-2B – for temporary non-agricultural work. These visas are limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
- L – for intercompany transfers (people transferred from a foreign company to a US branch of the company.) The applicant must have been employed at the company for a year before the transfer and work in a managerial level position or higher with specialized knowledge.
- 0 – for people with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, or athletics.
The standard procedure is to obtain a short-term work visa and then apply for an immigrant visa after the employee has started working in the United States.
For those seeking employment-based immigrant visas:
- E-1 – highest priority employment for those with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, and athletics.
- E-2 – for those with advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
- E-3 – for skilled workers and professionals, as well as unskilled workers.
- E-4 – members of certain immigrant groups.
- E-5 – immigrant investors in US companies (substantial investment).
Alternatively, an employer may sponsor a potential employee’s application for permanent resident status, referred to as a “green card,” if the employee can establish that the potential employee is a multinational executive/manager transferee, has unique skills, or has been offered a job in the United States.
The employer must have been unable to recruit a U.S. worker who meets the position’s minimum requirements.
VAT
General
Missouri has a State sales tax of 4.225%. Local Local jurisdictions such as counties, cities and special districts can add additional Local sales taxes ranging up to 5.875%.
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Payroll and Benefits Guide
in United States – Missouri
What’s covered in this guide:
- Employer/employee contributions
- Minimum wage
- Working hours
- Visa requirements
And more...
Public Holidays Calendar
| Date | Day | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2025 | Wednesday | New Year’s Day | |
| 20 Jan 2025 | Monday | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | |
| 17 Feb 2025 | Monday | Presidents Day | |
| 26 May 2025 | Monday | Memorial Day | |
| 19 Jun 2025 | Thursday | Juneteenth | |
| 4 Jul 2025 | Friday | Independence Day | |
| 1 Sep 2025 | Monday | Labor Day | |
| 13 Oct 2025 | Monday | Columbus Day | |
| 11 Nov 2025 | Tuesday | Veterans Day (applicable to veterans and active military only) | |
| 27 Nov 2025 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | |
| 28 Nov 2025 | Friday | Day After Thanksgiving | |
| 25 Dec 2025 | Thursday | Christmas Day |
Questions & Answers