Sick leave concerns persist after Prop A passage, chamber says 

Jonas Arjes: There’s a need to find more developable sites in the Springfield area. 

Officials with the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce say they’ve heard concerns from businesses about Proposition A in the months since voters approved the minimum wage and sick leave ballot initiative, as the legal case that challenged the election issue results in December is yet to be resolved.  

That leaves employers with a lack of clarity on how to proceed with updated sick leave policies, said chamber President Matt Morrow, who led a March 26 media roundtable discussion. The topic was one of several issues covered by chamber officials during the hourlong session at the chamber’s office, 202 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway. It marked the first time Morrow and other chamber executives had hosted such an event.  

“There are some provisions around that that are especially complicated in terms of just navigating implementation,” Morrow said of Prop A. 

For example, under Prop A, employees are scheduled to start accruing paid sick time on May 1, and employers must provide written notice of the paid sick time by April 15, according to the state labor department. However, as the calendar year starts Jan. 1, Morrow said people already are using up sick time and now employers would have to grant more. 

“Many employers, especially small businesses, have really worked with their employees to find an approach to their paid time off that works well for them and that they’ve built together,” he said. “And it complicates things quite a bit to be in a place to do this.” 

Morrow said the chamber opposed Prop A when it was on the November ballot. An October news release notes its opposition aligns with a longstanding policy of advocating for economic growth driven by market conditions and not government mandates. It pointed out challenges specifically with the sick time compliance and enforcement mechanisms.  

“We also have heard from a number of employers that accrual methods that are there for it can be really challenging,” Morrow said, adding the hourly provision is another concern businesses have voiced to the chamber.  

The initiative mandates employees be given one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with enforcement and oversight by the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts, educational institutions and those who work at businesses with less than $500,000 in annual revenue, are among exemptions, according to the secretary of state’s office.  

“It would really help a lot of employers if it could just be 32 hours because it divides evenly by eight,” Morrow said. “To me, those are precisely the kinds of things that tend to get fleshed out in the legislative process and that’s why – even as messy and sometimes long as it can take to get through that – we usually prefer to take that route.” 

Proposition A, which passed with approximately 57.6% of the vote, also raised the state’s minimum wage to $13.75 per hour as of Jan. 1, up from $12.30 per hour. It then increases the minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2026, which will again be adjusted each January based on the consumer price index. 

State legislators are seeking to repeal the sick leave requirement and keep the minimum wage from being annually adjusted in line with inflation in the future through House Bill 567. The bill, which was passed earlier this month by the House of Representatives, is next heading to the Senate floor.  

There also is an ongoing lawsuit against the constitutionality of Proposition A brought by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, along with Associated Industries of Missouri, the Missouri Forest Products Association, the Missouri Grocers Association, the Missouri Restaurant Association and the National Federation of Independent Business, according to past reporting. The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments in the case earlier this month but is yet to render a decision. 

The lawsuit claims Proposition A covers two topics, minimum wage and paid sick leave, while by law ballot issues can only pertain to a single subject. Proponents of the law dispute that Prop A was misleading or violated the state constitution, adding that overturning the law would deny the will of voters who approved the measure.  

Morrow said even if the state legislation is passed, the bill wouldn’t go into effect for several months. That means there would be a provision of one law taking effect May 1, then a different law becomes effective Aug. 28.  

“That’s a whole other series of questions and we don’t have good answers to them for employers in terms of how do you write your sick leave policies to be compliant with the law that is in place May 1 and will be different Aug. 28,” he said. “It’s just going to be complicated.” 

Project prospects 
Chamber officials also discussed economic development issues during the media roundtable, including potential projects in its pipeline for this year. The topic comes a couple weeks after the chamber noted nine new-build or expansion projects that were part of 2024 efforts for the organization. Those include Cold Zone, a cold storage logistics company and a subsidiary of the Erlen Group, and Keep Supply, a distributor and supplier of commercial refrigeration parts, according to past reporting. While Cold Zone broke ground in June on a 170,000-square-foot facility in Partnership Industrial Center West, Keep Supply will lease 34,000 square feet at 117 Park Central Square, moving from its current location at 601 N. National Ave. with a plan to expand by 100 workers over the next several years.   

The projects announced for 2024 are estimated to bring 382 jobs and $208 million in capital investment, chamber officials say. 

Morrow said the chamber is actively managing 19 projects for 2025. One of those is Press Room Equipment LLC, which intends to invest $6.5 million and create 10 jobs with the construction of a 32,000-square-foot facility at PIC West Site H, located near 4735 W. Division St. The manufacturer of press feeding and coil handling equipment currently operates at 807 N. Prince Lane in northeast Springfield. 

“That’s the fifth site in the last 18 months to go. So, we’re moving quickly,” Morrow said. “There’s not a lot of dirt left out there. We’re excited about that and also looking for new locations and opportunities.” 

Jonas Arjes, senior vice president of economic development, said only three parcels are currently available in PIC West’s original 388 acres. One of those is under contract and scheduled to close by the end of the month, he said.  

“So, we could be looking at two remaining parcels in PIC West,” Arjes said. “The rate of absorption of that going back the last 18 months, 100-plus acres have been taken.” 

Capacity building and determining future sites and acreage for developable sites is a topic Arjes said the chamber will discuss at its monthly Good Morning, Springfield! event, set for April 3 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Conference Center.  

“We have to start looking at that very seriously. Right now, we have roughly 1,000 acres of developable land between Strafford and Republic,” he said.  

While the Erlen Group, which owns and operates Springfield Underground, is among private sector companies looking to develop more in the Queen City, Arjes said additional development planning is needed. 

“As a community, as a region, we have to seriously start looking at what are those acreages, what are the locations that 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the road can be those 1,000 acres of developmental sites that we have currently,” he said, noting Springfield is eliminated from consideration for some projects due to not meeting some companies’ needs for infrastructure, such as water, natural gas and energy.  

As for projects in which the chamber is competing, Morrow said it typically rates them from one to four stars. A one-star project is considered suspect, which is just initial interest conveyed by a company.  

“We don’t even know if we’re a solid contender yet for that, but we’re engaged,” he said, adding eight of the current projects fall into that designation. 

However, he said the chamber has seven projects rated as four stars, which is considered a strong prospect. 

“We expect them to locate in Springfield,” he said, noting work on those projects include negotiating property.