Bill > HB1644

This bill modifies existing Missouri law regarding employee rights and employer responsibilities, particularly concerning public employees and joint employment relationships. It expands the right to form and join labor organizations to most public employees, excluding police, deputy sheriffs, state highway patrolmen, National Guard members, and teachers, while allowing these excluded groups to form benevolent or social associations. For "first responders" – defined as firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and 911 and police dispatchers and officers – the bill establishes a mandatory process for good faith bargaining with public bodies over wages, benefits, and working conditions, including provisions for mediation and binding arbitration if an agreement cannot be reached within specified timeframes, and prohibits unilateral changes to terms of employment by public bodies during bargaining. Additionally, the bill clarifies that a "franchisor" (the company granting the franchise) is generally not considered an employer of a "franchisee's" (the individual or business operating the franchise) employees, unless the franchisor directly controls hiring, firing, discipline, and employee direction, and this provision does not alter employee status under federal labor laws or the Missouri Constitution. Finally, the bill updates definitions for "employee" and "employer" within sections related to wages and hours, adding several new exclusions to the definition of "employee," such as certain retail or service business employees with less than $500,000 in annual gross sales and minor league baseball players compensated under a collective bargaining agreement.