Last week, the Missouri Court of Appeals issued an opinion holding that gender identity is not covered by the prohibition on sex discrimination in the Missouri Human Rights Act. The opinion builds on a 2015 opinion from the same court, which held that sexual orientation was not covered under the MHRA.

Last week's opinion arose from a lawsuit filed by a female-to-male high school ...

Overtime rule - what's the Trump Administration doing? Last Friday, I posted about the U.S. Department of Labor's brief in the case challenging the Obama Administration's overtime rule, which has been enjoined since November 2016. The Trump DOL position had me scratching my head because it sounded an awful lot like the Obama DOL position, and I said that we'd be hearing soon from some ...

Employers in St. Louis City should prepare for an imminent increase in the minimum wage from $7.70 to $10 per hour. On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court issued its direction to lift an injunction blocking the City’s minimum wage ordinance from taking effect. The trial court that issued the injunction must now lift the injunction—which can happen at any time. Once the injunction is ...

Bob Ortbals co-wrote this post.

Employers get ready. Paid family leave is coming. The latest move comes from Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (R), who granted paid parental leave to all state executive branch employees by executive order on March 13, 2017. Effective immediately, executive branch employees are entitled to paid leave for the birth or adoption ...

Yesterday, the Missouri Supreme Court reinstated a St. Louis city law that will hike the city’s minimum wage to $11 per hour by 2018. Originally enacted in 2015, the law had been invalidated by a trial judge hours before it was to become effective.

As originally passed, the city’s law provided for graduated increases to the minimum wage as follows:

• October 15, 2015 - $8.25 per ...

The State of Missouri has now become our 28th right-to-work state, following closely after Kentucky, which took the leap about a month ago.

The Missouri bill was signed into law yesterday by Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, and is scheduled to take effect in August. However, the Missouri AFL-CIO has requested a voter referendum on the measure. If the union gets enough signatures, the ...

With employee mobility and desire for flexible work arrangements continually increasing, some employers are turning to non-compete agreements to limit the disruption to their workforces. But as some employers have been using non-competes with low-wage, unskilled workers, criticism has followed—including a recent White House call for states to ban ...

"The boss is a jerk. I dread coming to work every day. I'm treated unfairly. Everyone else gets better treatment than I do. My pay stinks, and my company's paid-time-off policy leaves much to be desired. I should sue!"

The Daily Mail had an article this week about "the moment [employees] started hating their jobs," based on a Reddit discussion ...

                          If you ever plan to motor west,

Travel my way, take the highway that is best.

Get your kicks on Route 66.

It winds from Chicago to LA,

More than two thousand miles all the way,

Get your kicks on Route 66.*

OK, kiddies -- jump into my '55 T-bird, and let's take off on old Route 66, from Chicago to L.A., more than two thousand miles all the way! If you promise to behave, I'll let you ride with the top down.