New hiring laws in Missouri for 2027: E-Verify enforcement, camp background checks, expunged records and a $15 wage that stays put

As of November 2026, Missouri changed hiring in targeted ways in 2026 rather than with one broad law. HCS HBs 2366 and 2511, in effect since August 28, 2026, let the attorney general sue employers that knowingly employ unauthorized workers for ten times the wages paid them; HB 1696 requires a criminal background check before residential camp staff start; and SB 1421 says pardoned and expunged records shall no longer be reported and orders automatic expungement of certain drug possession convictions, starting no later than January 1, 2027. The minimum wage stays at $15.00 in 2027, because a 2025 law removed the inflation adjustment that would have started that day.

Missouri passed no pay transparency, salary history, AI hiring or staffing agency licensing law in 2026. Each item below is a signed act of the 2026 Regular Session or a federal rule, linked to its primary source. The standing checklist (unemployment and withholding accounts, new-hire reporting, posters) is in our Missouri hiring hub; this page is the dated list of what is new.

Which Missouri hiring laws changed in 2026, and what changes in 2027?

Laws without an emergency clause or another date take effect August 28 of the year they pass, as the Revisor of Statutes' FAQ explains. The table is sorted by date.

What did HB 2366 change about E-Verify and unauthorized workers?

Enforcement, not who must enroll. The House's truly agreed summary of HCS HBs 2366 & 2511, signed July 13, 2026, gives the attorney general the investigative powers of the Merchandising Practices Act. The state must prove "by a preponderance of the evidence that the employer knowingly employed, hired for employment, or continued to employ an unauthorized alien," and can win an injunction, damages "equal to 10 times the amount of wages paid" to those workers, and suspension of state licenses and permits. E-Verify participation remains an affirmative defense. A general contractor or subcontractor of any tier is now liable for its direct subcontractor's violation if it "has knowledge of such violation," and must cooperate with an investigation. Who must enroll did not change; the before-and-after table is in E-Verify requirements in Missouri.

Which Missouri camps must run background checks, and what does the check include?

Residential camps. RSMo 210.1700 covers programs that include "the hours between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. for two or more sequential overnights," and says "each residential camp staff member or volunteer who is eighteen years of age or older shall be subject to a criminal background check prior to commencing employment or volunteer service." The check covers the National Sex Offender Registry and, where available, the name-based criminal and sex offender registries of Missouri and of each state where the person lived in the preceding five years. Registered sex offenders, and people convicted of an offense on the child care disqualification list in RSMo 210.1080, are ineligible.

SB 1421 enacted a different version of the section that also reached single-night camps, but the Revisor's note says HB 1696 repealed that version effective August 28, 2026. Camps and the agencies that recruit seasonal counselors should run the searches before the first day of the 2027 season.

What did SB 1421 change about expunged and pardoned records?

New RSMo 610.143 says "records of arrests, indictments pending trial, and convictions of crimes shall no longer be reported if at any time after a conviction it is learned that a full pardon or expungement has been granted for that conviction, or at any time after an arrest or indictment it is learned that a conviction did not result." The attorney general may sue for an injunction and damages, including up to $1,000 for each willful or negligent violation. An employer that hires a person whose record was expunged "shall be immune from liability" for misconduct related to the expunged record unless it "failed to exercise reasonable care." Applicants must still disclose expunged offenses to federally insured banks and credit unions, insurers screening under 18 U.S.C. 1033 or 1034, and entities authorized to receive closed records.

Section 610.141 of the truly agreed text orders automatic expungement of qualifying drug possession and paraphernalia convictions one year (misdemeanor) or three years (felony) after final disposition, if there is no new conviction or pending charge and the offense is not a class A felony. It applies "when technically feasible," "but no later than January 1, 2027," and the Highway Patrol will give consumer reporting agencies the data to delete those records. The act also lifted the cap on name-based Highway Patrol checks from $15 to $20, with increases of no more than $1 a year (RSMo 43.530).

What employers may ask, and which checks see closed records, is in Missouri background check laws. With the EEOC's 2012 guidance rescinded on October 28, 2026, a job-related review using the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it and the nature of the job) remains a sound way to decide and document; Title VII and the FCRA's adverse action steps still apply.

Which licensed workers can start sooner, or need a new check?

• Workers from unlicensed states. RSMo 324.004 lets a person with "at least three years of work experience" in a state that does not license the occupation apply for a "one-time nonrenewable two-year temporary license." The board decides within 45 days and the applicant must pass the licensing examination; some professions are excluded.
• CPAs. SB 1233 replaced the 150-semester-hour rule: a bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration and two years of experience now qualifies, as does a bachelor's plus 30 semester hours, or a post-baccalaureate degree, with one year (truly agreed text, section 326.280).
• Physicians. Under HB 2372, candidates show good moral character "by submitting to a criminal background check as provided in section 43.540," and the board may pull National Practitioner Data Bank reports. Allow for the check in start dates.
• Compacts. HB 2974's compacts operate only once seven states enact each one, per the House summary, so check the compact's own site before telling a candidate they can work without a Missouri license.

What is Missouri's minimum wage in 2027, and is paid sick leave still required?

The wage stays at $15.00. The Department of Labor's minimum wage page lists $15.00 as the rate in effect for 2026, with tipped employees paid "at least 50 percent of the minimum wage, $7.50 per hour," plus any amount needed to reach $15.00. HB 567 of 2025, approved July 10, 2025, struck the Consumer Price Index adjustments that Proposition A had scheduled from January 1, 2027 out of RSMo 290.502, leaving only the rule that a higher federal rate "shall immediately become the minimum wage." As of November 2026 the department had posted no 2027 figure.

The same act repealed the earned paid sick time law, sections 290.600 to 290.642, and extended the minimum wage section to public employers; the Revisor gives August 28, 2025 as the amended section's effective date. No measure on the November 3, 2026 statewide ballot, per the Secretary of State's list, sets a wage or sick leave rule.

What else changed for Missouri employers in 2026?

• National Guard members. HB 2593 amended RSMo 40.490: Missouri Guard members on state active duty for more than 30 consecutive days, and Missouri employees on another state's Guard duty, are "entitled to all rights and protections provided by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act" after release, and "the attorney general may also bring suit against an employer." Military leave for certain public employees rises from 120 to 160 hours a federal fiscal year, per the House summary.
• Cannabis workers. Section 1 of HB 2641 gives "all persons employed in cannabis-related businesses" the right to organize and bargain collectively. Testing rules are unchanged; see Missouri drug testing laws.

What did not change in Missouri in 2026?

• No pay range or statewide salary history law; Kansas City's salary history ban still applies there. See Missouri pay transparency and Missouri salary history ban.
• No statewide private-employer ban-the-box law; see Missouri ban-the-box.
• Non-competes: the 2026 physician bills did not pass; see Missouri non-compete law.
• Recording interviews follows the same wiretap statute; see Missouri recording consent for interviews.
• No staffing agency license since 1999; see Missouri staffing agency licensing.

What should Missouri employers do before January 1, 2027?

1. Check E-Verify use and subcontractor files, and keep a record of what you asked subcontractors.
2. Tell your background check vendor to suppress pardoned and expunged convictions and arrests without a conviction, and expect automatic expungements to begin no later than January 1, 2027.
3. Drop expungement questions from applications, except for bank, credit union, insurance and other listed roles.
4. Add the camp searches to onboarding if you run or staff residential camps.
5. Keep $15.00 as the 2027 floor in offers and postings, and $7.50 cash wage for tipped staff.
6. Update criminal history guidance so it no longer cites the 2012 EEOC guidance.
7. Check Form I-9 editions and EAD reverification dates.

What does this mean for staffing agencies in Missouri?

The largest exposure is HB 2366. An agency supplying workers to a public-project contractor is often its direct subcontractor, and the contractor is now liable if it knows of the agency's violation, so expect clients to ask for E-Verify proof and to audit I-9s; agencies with public contracts over $5,000 still file the enrollment affidavit. Agencies placing camp counselors must finish the camp searches before day one, and those placing physicians, PAs, athletic trainers, dietitians or CPAs should check the new licensing routes before quoting a start date. Other states' 2027 changes, for workers placed outside Missouri, are in new hiring laws for 2027.