By Cameron Montemayor
St. Joseph News Press, Nov 4, 2024. Also Yahoo News.
Among the historic races and ballot measures in the November general election, voters in Missouri will also see a proposal seeking to raise the state’s minimum wage by nearly $3. ...
Given the challenges many businesses still face with hiring and retaining employees since the COVID-19 pandemic, Andi Montee, owner of Mokaska Coffee, has long supported a minimum wage increase for that and a myriad of reasons, including putting more money in employees’ pockets to recirculate in the local economy.
“Making sure that they’re fairly compensated, that creates loyalty amongst your employees and we feel it increases retention,” Montee said. “We feel strongly that this is mutually beneficial for both the employees and the employers.” ...
In addition to Prop A’s minimum wage hike, the measure also seeks to establish a minimum for accruing paid sick leave. Under the proposal, employees would accumulate one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
“Paid sick leave is just as critical a component of this,” Montee said. “If COVID taught us anything, it’s the need for people to be able to go home when they’re sick and not, you know, kind of spread illnesses, but also to have some stability in their job security.” ...