Losing a job can be a challenging time for any person or family. Despite this hardship, the Missouri government has installed protections for employees in the aftermath of termination. Understanding your rights as a prior employee is essential to ensure you were treated with the utmost fairness by your previous employer.
Your employer must pay you for all current unpaid wages. Under Missouri Law Section 290.110, Missouri Law ensures that the unpaid wages of the employee, at the contract rate, become due and payable on the day of discharge or refusal.
The employee has the right to request in writing to have the money or a valid check for the owed wages sent to a designated location. If the payment is not received within seven days from the request, a penalty is imposed, where the wages continue to accrue until paid, but not exceeding sixty days.
Your rights as an employee not only protect your final paycheck but also your time. If you worked overtime before you were terminated, your previous employer cannot take that time away from you.
You have the right to be fairly compensated for any time worked including your overtime. Missouri Law defined overtime as time worked more than 40 hours per week. Your previous employer must pay any hours above 40 at the statutorily required amount of time and a half. You may have questions about why you were terminated from your previous position.
These are perfectly normal and important to have answered. Missouri Law protects employees from being terminated for reasons that may be discriminatory based on age, sex, or religion. If you were terminated for a discriminatory reason, the employer may be held liable for this injustice.
