Missouri pay transparency law: no state range rule, Kansas City's salary history ban (2026)

Missouri has no statewide law that requires private employers to put a pay range in job postings, as of October 2026, and no statewide ban on salary history questions. We found no such provision in the Revised Statutes of Missouri, and the pay bills filed in the Missouri House in 2025 and 2026 were equal pay bills that never left committee. The local exception is Kansas City: since October 31, 2019, employers there with six or more employees may not ask about or rely on an applicant's salary history. Beyond that, Missouri's 1963 equal pay law, the federal Equal Pay Act and Title VII apply, and Illinois's posting law reaches any job done in Illinois or reporting to an Illinois office.

Does Missouri require a salary range in job postings?

No. Missouri's wage statutes in Chapter 290 cover minimum wage, wage payment and equal pay for women, but none of them says what a job advertisement must disclose about pay, and none restricts questions about pay history. An employer hiring anywhere in Missouri outside Kansas City may leave pay out of a posting and may ask what a candidate earns now, as far as state law goes. The rest of Missouri's hiring rules are in our guide to hiring employees in Missouri.

What does Kansas City's salary history ordinance require?

Kansas City, Missouri is the main local rule. The City Council passed Committee Substitute for Ordinance No. 190380 on May 23, 2019, creating Code section 38-102, effective October 31, 2019. The ordinance applies to an "employer," which it defines as "any person employing six or more employees," and makes it unlawful for an employer or agent to:

• inquire about the salary history of an applicant for employment;
• screen applicants based on their current or prior wages, benefits or other compensation, including requiring that prior pay meet minimum or maximum criteria;
• rely on salary history in deciding whether to offer employment or in setting salary, benefits or other compensation, including in negotiating an employment contract; or
• refuse to hire, or otherwise disfavor or retaliate against, an applicant who does not disclose salary history.

The ordinance expressly allows an employer or its agent, "without inquiring about salary history," to discuss the applicant's expectations about salary, benefits and other compensation, including unvested equity or deferred compensation the applicant would forfeit by resigning. The bans do not apply to internal transfers or promotions, voluntary and unprompted disclosure by the applicant, background checks that happen to reveal pay (which then may not be relied on), positions whose pay is set by collective bargaining, or rehires within five years where the employer already has the history. The ordinance's general penalty section, 38-101, makes a violation an ordinance violation punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to 180 days in jail, or both.

The ordinance defines employment to include work "through the services of a temporary or other employment agency," so agencies placing people with Kansas City employers should follow it. It does not require a pay range in postings. A 2018 resolution, No. 180519, separately directed the City Manager to remove salary history from the city's own application and interview process. Kansas City's criminal history ordinance is covered in Missouri ban-the-box rules, and other cities' pay history bans in salary history ban states.

What does Missouri's equal pay law say?

Missouri's own rule dates from 1963. RSMo 290.410 bars an employer from paying "any female in his employ at wage rates less than the wage rates paid to male employees in the same establishment for the same quantity and quality of the same classification of work." It allows differences based on seniority, length of service, ability, skill, duties, shift or time of day, hours, lifting restrictions, or "other reasonable differentiation, or factors other than sex, when exercised in good faith."

The definition of employer in RSMo 290.400 is broad: it includes any "agent, manager, representative, contractor, subcontractor, principal or other person having control or direction" of an employee, "or responsible directly or indirectly for the wages of another." A staffing firm that sets and pays a temporary worker's wage fits that wording.

Which federal rules apply to Missouri employers?

• Equal Pay Act and Title VII. The EEOC's equal pay page says the Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for equal work, that jobs "must be substantially equal" though not identical, and that it covers virtually all employers; Title VII and the ADA bar pay discrimination at 15 or more employees.
• Pay discussions. The NLRB lists "talking with one or more co-workers about your wages and benefits" as protected concerted activity.
• Federal contractors. OFCCP's pay transparency provision, 41 CFR 60-1.35, is not in force. It depended on Executive Order 11246, which Executive Order 14173 revoked on January 21, 2025, and the Department of Labor's final rule rescinded it with the rest of the order's regulations effective October 26, 2026 (91 FR 54444). The NLRA still protects most private-sector employees, including contractors' employees, who discuss pay. See job posting requirements for federal contractors.

When does Illinois law reach a Missouri job?

St. Louis employers hire across the river all the time. Illinois requires employers with 15 or more employees to put "the pay scale and benefits for a position in any specific job posting" for positions performed "at least in part, in Illinois" or performed elsewhere when "the employee reports to a supervisor, office, or other work site in Illinois" (820 ILCS 112/10(b-25)). A St. Louis company that posts a role at its Belleville, Illinois site, or a remote role reporting to a manager in Edwardsville, needs the range. A third party that posts the job is liable for a missing range unless the employer failed to provide it. See the Illinois guide and, for roles open anywhere, pay transparency for remote jobs.

What pay bills did Missouri consider in 2025 and 2026?

We found no bill requiring pay ranges in postings among the House bills of either session. The pay bills that were filed addressed gender-based pay discrimination, and none passed:

What should recruiters and staffing agencies hiring in Missouri do?

1. Flag Kansas City reqs at intake. If the employer has six or more employees and the job is in Kansas City, Missouri, take pay history out of the application, the screen and the reference check.
2. Ask about expectations instead. Kansas City allows that discussion, and it works on every other req too; see salary expectation questions.
3. Check for an Illinois link on every St. Louis-area req: an Illinois worksite, Illinois work days, or a manager in Illinois.
4. Agencies: get the client's range and benefits in writing before posting any Illinois-linked role. Missouri agency licensing is covered in staffing agency license in Missouri.
5. Write down why each offer is what it is. Under RSMo 290.410 and the Equal Pay Act, a pay gap has to rest on a good-faith factor other than sex.

Example only: a recruiter screening for a Kansas City, Missouri accounting role asks, "What base salary range are you targeting for your next move?" rather than "What do you make now?" The first question is allowed under section 38-102(b); the second is the inquiry the ordinance bans.

Missouri pay rules at a glance

A Missouri posting checklist

MISSOURI POSTING CHECKLIST (as of October 2026)

[ ] Job in Kansas City, Missouri, employer with 6+ employees?
    No salary history questions, screens or reliance
[ ] Any Illinois worksite, work days or manager? Pay scale + benefits
[ ] Remote role: check each state the ad is open to
[ ] Elsewhere in Missouri: range optional under state law; have one ready
[ ] Screen asks about expectations, not current pay
[ ] Offer reason written down (range, placement, approver)
[ ] Handbook has no pay-secrecy rule
[ ] Agency: client's range and benefits received in writing