Three States Pass Paid Sick Leave Measures
Voters in three states—Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska—voted in favor of ballot measures that require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees among other requirements. Once these measures become effective, employers in these states will have to provide paid sick leave according to the requirements of the laws that were passed.
Alaska – Ballot Measure 1
Voters in Alaska approved Ballot Measure 1, which touches on several different employment issues. The measure takes effect on July 1, 2025, and will require Alaska employers to provide paid sick leave to employees, increase the minimum wage to $13 per hour with future increases slated, and prohibit employers from requiring employees to attend meetings about religious or political issues.
Mandatory Paid Sick Leave
Beginning July 1, 2025, employers with 15 or more employees must provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year, accruing at a rate of 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 14 or fewer employees must provide up to 40 hours per year, accruing at the same rate as for larger employers. Hours can carry over from year to year, but employers can prohibit employees from using more than the maximum number of accrual hours per year.
Once accrued, earned paid sick leave can be used:
- for an employee’s own physical or mental medical or preventative care needs,
- to care for an immediate family member’s medical needs, or
- for safe leave to relocate or obtain treatment or services when an employee or family member experiences domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
Employees must give prior notice to their employer when possible and can use leave in as small as one-hour increments or a smaller increment if the employer offers it for other types of leave. Employers can request reasonable documentation for employees missing more than 3 consecutive days of work.
Employees who leave employment and return within 6 months must have previously accrued sick leave hours reinstated. Employers cannot discriminate or retaliate against employees for using paid sick leave.
Increase of Minimum Wage
Effective July 1, 2025, the minimum wage in Alaska will increase to $13 per hour. In 2026, the minimum will increase to $14 per hour, and in 2027, it will increase to $15 per hour. Thereafter, the rate will be adjusted for inflation and must always be at least $2 more per hour than the federal minimum wage.
Prohibition on Mandatory Meetings about Religious or Political Issues
This provision is described as an employee’s right to avoid speech. In this case, employees cannot be required to attend meetings about religious or political matters that are not related to their jobs. Exceptions apply.
Missouri – Proposition A
Similar to the Alaska ballot measure, Missouri voters approved Proposition A, a ballot measure known as the “Minimum Wage and Earned Paid Sick Time Initiative.” This measure requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees and increases the Missouri state minimum wage.
Mandatory Paid Sick Leave
Beginning May 1, 2025, Missouri employees must be allowed to accrue at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 15 or more employees must allow employees to use up to 56 hours per year. Employers with 14 or fewer employees must allow employees to use up to 40 hours per year. There is no cap on the number of hours that can accrued per year, but employees can only carry over up to 80 hours of unused paid sick leave from year to year.
Once accrued, earned paid sick leave can be used:
- for an employee’s own physical or mental medical or preventative care needs,
- to care for a family member’s medical needs,
- for work or childcare closures due to a public health emergency, or
- for safe leave to relocate or obtain treatment or services when an employee or family member experiences domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
Employers must provide written notice to employees about the accrued sick time and its use by April 15, 2025.
Increase of Minimum Wage
Starting January 1, 2025, the Missouri state minimum wage will increase to $13.75 per hour. That rate will increase to $15 per hour on January 1, 2026. Every January thereafter, the minimum wage will adjust based on the cost of living as stated by the United States Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
Nebraska – Initiative 436
Nebraska voters overwhelmingly passed Initiative 436, known as the “Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act.” Starting October 1, 2025, employers must provide at least 1 hours of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 20 or more employees can cap the accrual and use at 56 hours per year, and smaller employers can cap the accrual and use at 40 hours per year. Employees can carry over any unused time year to year. Employers who frontload available leave to employees can pay employees for unused paid sick time at the end of the year in lieu of allowing carryover.
Once accrued, earned paid sick leave can be used:
- for an employee’s own physical or mental medical or preventative care needs,
- to care for a family member’s medical needs,
- for work or childcare closures due to a public health emergency, or
- for self-isolation when health authorities determine the employee or a family member’s presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others.
Leave can be used in hourly increments, or the smallest increment the employer allows for other types of leave. Employers can require employees to provide reasonable documentation for absences of more than 3 consecutive days.
Employers must create a written policy with a reasonable procedure for employees to provide notice of needed leave. An employer who has not provided an employee a copy of the written policy cannot deny paid sick time for non-compliance with the policy.
Written notice of the leave and other terms of use must be provided to employees by October 1, 2025, or at time of hire, whichever is later. The Nebraska Department of Labor will provide a notice poster that employers must post to inform employees about their rights.
This blog is up to date as of December 2024 and has not been updated for changes in the law, administration or current events.
