Kansas City Missouri Employment Law Blog

As a Missouri worker, your overtime pay is important to you, and you likely want to earn as much of it as possible. But you may be unclear as to when overtime kicks in and how much it amounts to. As FindLaw explains, under Title 18 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, your employer must pay you overtime any time you work more than 40 hours in a given week, not necessarily any time you work more than eight hours in a given day.

Be aware that the word “week” applies to the seven-day period in which you normally work. For instance, if you normally work Monday through Friday with Saturday and Sunday off, your week runs from Monday through Sunday. On the other hand, if you normally work Wednesday through Sunday with Monday and Tuesday off, your week runs from Wednesday through Tuesday.

Having children is a dream shared by couples throughout Missouri. They may spend months and years trying to get pregnant and when they succeed, it is joyous news to share with friends and family. As the news makes its way around the office, a pregnant woman may also have to deal with some not-so-happy reactions. As the baby grows and the mom-to-be starts to show, she may find herself suddenly on the sidelines or worse, unemployed.

After reviewing thousands of pages of court and public records and interviewing several dozen women and their attorneys, as well as government representatives, the New York Times reports on a pattern it has found. Pregnant women at companies big and small may be seen as less committed than other employees and they may experience instances of being passed over for important assignments, bonuses, raises in salaries and promotions. If they don’t like this treatment and make a complaint, they risk being fired.

State laws dictate when employees get breaks and how long those breaks can be. Under these laws, employers need to provide a minimum amount of rest time, potentially including short paid breaks or paid lunch hours. In Missouri, however, that isn't necessarily the case for workers like you.

The Department of Labor shows the laws for lunches and breaks in the state of Missouri. In this state, there actually aren't any laws in place which protect a worker's rights to have a break. This goes for any kind of break, including lunches. Related to that, age doesn't impact whether or not you may get a working break. Even youth workers aren't guaranteed one.

Each day when you go to work, you have the right to perform your job responsibilities in a safe and controlled work environment. Depending on the industry that you are a part of in Missouri, you may face unique risks that are related to your line of work. However, you should never be fearful of the actions of others or have to deal with repetitive harassment while at work. When you understand what a hostile work environment is, you can be aware of behaviors that you should report immediately to protect yourself and your career. 

According to the Washington Business Magazine, hostility in the workplace goes beyond casual joking. If you have been the recipient of verbiage or actions that are threatening, belittling, offensive, abusive or intimidating, you are working in an environment that is hostile and unsafe. When investigators get involved in your case, some of the things they will assess include the following:

• Are you a member of a protected class because of your race, disability, gender or social status? Was the abuse related to your personal background?
• Was the attention you are receiving unwanted and unsolicited by your actions?
• Did the harassment pose an immediate threat to your safety? Did the harrassment put you at risk of losing your job or did it prevent you from performing your job duties effectively?