Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 290
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MO-REVrevisor.mo.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

  290.500.  Definitions. — As used in sections 290.500 to 290.530, the following words and phrases mean:

  (1)  "Agriculture", farming and all its branches including, but not limited to, the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural commodities, the raising of livestock, fish and other marine life, bees, fur-bearing animals or poultry and any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with farming operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market;

  (2)  "Director", the director of the department of labor and industrial relations or his authorized representative;

  (3)  "Employee", any individual employed by an employer, except that the term "employee" shall not include:

  (a)  Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity;

  (b)  Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist or where the services rendered to the organization are on a voluntary basis;

  (c)  Any individual standing in loco parentis to foster children in their care;

  (d)  Any individual employed for less than four months in any year in a resident or day camp for children or youth, or any individual employed by an educational conference center operated by an educational, charitable or not-for-profit organization;

  (e)  Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational organization where employment by the organization is in lieu of the requirement that the individual pay the cost of tuition, housing or other educational fees of the organization or where earnings of the individual employed by the organization are credited toward the payment of the cost of tuition, housing or other educational fees of the organization;

  (f)  Any individual employed on or about a private residence on an occasional basis for six hours or less on each occasion;

  (g)  Any handicapped person employed in a sheltered workshop, certified by the department of elementary and secondary education;

  (h)  Any person employed on a casual basis to provide baby-sitting services;

  (i)  Any individual employed by an employer subject to the provisions of part A of subtitle IV of title 49, United States Code, 49 U.S.C. §§ 10101 et seq.;

  (j)  Any individual employed on a casual or intermittent basis as a golf caddy, newsboy, or in a similar occupation;

  (k)  Any individual whose earnings are derived in whole or in part from sales commissions and whose hours and places of employment are not substantially controlled by the employer;

  (l)  Any individual who is employed in any government position defined in 29 U.S.C. §§ 203(e)(2)(C)(i)-(ii);

  (m)  Any individual employed by a retail or service business whose annual gross volume sales made or business done is less than five hundred thousand dollars;

  (n)  Any individual who is an offender, as defined in section 217.010, who is incarcerated in any correctional facility operated by the department of corrections, including offenders who provide labor or services on the grounds of such correctional facility pursuant to section 217.550;

  (o)  Any individual described by the provisions of section 29 U.S.C. 213(a) (8);

  (4)  "Employer", any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee;

  (5)  "Learner and apprentice", any individual under 20 years of age who has not completed the required training for a particular job.  In no event shall the individual be deemed a learner or apprentice in the occupation after three months of training except where the director finds, after investigation, that for the particular occupation a minimum of proficiency cannot be acquired in three months.  In no case shall a person be declared to be a learner or apprentice after six months of training for a particular employer or job.  Employees of an amusement or recreation business that meets the criteria set out in 29 U.S.C. § 213(a) (3) may be deemed a learner or apprentice for ninety working days.  No individual shall be deemed a learner or apprentice solely for the purpose of evading the provisions of sections 290.500 to 290.530;

  (6)  "Occupation", any occupation, service, trade, business, industry, or branch or group of industries or employment or class of employment in which individuals are gainfully employed;

  (7)  "Wage", compensation due to an employee by reason of his employment, payable in legal tender of the United States or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at full face value;

  (8)  "Person", any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons;

  (9)  "Man-day", any day during which an employee performs any agricultural labor for not less than one hour.

­­--------

(L. 1990 H.B. 1881 § 1, A.L. 2006 Adopted by Initiative, Proposition B, November 7, 2006)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 63 cases (28 in the last 5 years), 2008–2026 · leading case: Andro Tolentino v. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., Westin Hotel Mgmt., LP, 437 S.W.3d 754 (Mo. 2014).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Andro Tolentino v. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., Westin Hotel Mgmt., LP, 437 S.W.3d 754 (Mo. 2014). · cites it 9× “Tolen-tino filed suit pursuant to the Missouri Minimum Wage Law (MMWL), section 290.500 1 et seq., alleging that Respondents, as his joint employer along with Giant Labor Services Inc.”
Cope v. Let's Eat Out, Inc., 354 F. Supp. 3d 976 (E.D. Mo. 2019). · cites it 2× “Under the Rule 23 Class Action, Plaintiff alleges Defendants violated the Missouri Minimum Wage Law ("MMWL"), Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500 et seq. , and Missouri common law by failing to pay Plaintiff and other tipped employees all earned minimum wages.”
Fleshner v. Pepose Vision Inst., P.C., 304 S.W.3d 81 (Mo. 2010). “Because Fleshner spoke with a federal investigator rather than a state investigator, PVI claims that Missouri’s minimum wage law, sections 290.500 to 290.530, is inapplicable to Flesh-ner.”
Robertson v. LTS Mgmt. Servs. LLC., 642 F. Supp. 2d 922 (W.D. Mo. 2008). · cites it 2× “Mo.Rev.Stat. § 290.500 et seq. Plaintiffs assert that their state claims are not dependent on establishing a FLSA violation.”
Thornton v. Mainline Commc'ns, LLC, 157 F. Supp. 3d 844 (E.D. Mo. 2016). · cites it 2× “, and the Missouri Minimum Wage Law (“MMWL”), § 290.500 RSMo., et seq., as well as common law claims for quantum meruit and unjust enrichment.”
Klee v. Missouri Comm'n on Human Rights, 516 S.W.3d 917 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 27× “Again, the circuit court’s judgment and the MHRC’s argument on appeal apparently concede this fact as neither address it at all and both rely on a statutory exception to the definition of an “employee” found in the “Minimum Wage Law”, section 290.500, to argue that Klee is not…”
Michael LaCurtis v. Express Med. Transporters, 856 F.3d 571 (8th Cir. 2017). “, and the Missouri Minimum Wage Law, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500 et seq., which is interpreted in accordance with the FLSA.”
Delise diaz v. Autozoners, LLC, D/B/A Autozone, 484 S.W.3d 64 (Mo. Ct. App. 2015). “at 757 (quoting ■ § 290.500(4)). There are five factors, courts generally look to in the economic realities test: (1) who has the power to hire and fire the worker; (2) who supervises and controls the worker’s work schedule and conditions of work; (3) who determines the rate and…”
Bowler v. AlliedBarton Sec. Servs., LLC, 123 F. Supp. 3d 1152 (E.D. Mo. 2015). · cites it 2× “Except as may-be otherwise provided under sections 290.500 to 290.530, this-section shall be interpreted in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.”
Davenport v. Charter Commc'ns, LLC, 302 F.R.D. 520 (E.D. Mo. 2014). · cites it 4× “) To date, several hundred putative plaintiffs have filed consents to join the FLSA collective action.”
Fields v. Advanced Health Care Mgmt. Servs., LLC, 340 S.W.3d 648 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 3× “§ 201 , et seq and § 290.500, RSMo 2006 *652 [Missouri Minimum Wage Law].”
Conrad v. Waffle House, Inc., 351 S.W.3d 813 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 2× “Analysis Conrad contends that there was “sufficient evidence and disputed material issues of fact” as to whether Waffle House was Conrad’s employer under section 290.500 et seq. We, however, find Waffle House demonstrated there is no genuine issue of material fact and the…”
Show all 63 citing cases →
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3) — 4 cases
Andro Tolentino v. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., Westin Hotel Mgmt., LP, 437 S.W.3d 754 (Mo. 2014). “Tolen-tino filed suit pursuant to the Missouri Minimum Wage Law (MMWL), section 290.500 1 et seq., alleging that Respondents, as his joint employer along with Giant Labor Services Inc.”
Wells v. Fedex Ground Package Sys., Inc., 979 F. Supp. 2d 1006 (E.D. Mo. 2013).
Klee v. Missouri Comm'n on Human Rights, 516 S.W.3d 917 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). “Again, the circuit court’s judgment and the MHRC’s argument on appeal apparently concede this fact as neither address it at all and both rely on a statutory exception to the definition of an “employee” found in the “Minimum Wage Law”, section 290.500, to argue that Klee is not…”
Schwenk v. Primal Innovation, LLC (W.D. Mo. 2025).
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3)(4)(8) — 1 case
Fields v. Advanced Health Care Mgmt. Servs., LLC, 340 S.W.3d 648 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011). “§ 201 , et seq and § 290.500, RSMo 2006 *652 [Missouri Minimum Wage Law].”
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3)(b) — 1 case
Klee v. Missouri Comm'n on Human Rights, 516 S.W.3d 917 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). “Again, the circuit court’s judgment and the MHRC’s argument on appeal apparently concede this fact as neither address it at all and both rely on a statutory exception to the definition of an “employee” found in the “Minimum Wage Law”, section 290.500, to argue that Klee is not…”
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(3)(n) — 1 case
Klee v. Missouri Comm'n on Human Rights, 516 S.W.3d 917 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). “Again, the circuit court’s judgment and the MHRC’s argument on appeal apparently concede this fact as neither address it at all and both rely on a statutory exception to the definition of an “employee” found in the “Minimum Wage Law”, section 290.500, to argue that Klee is not…”
— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.500(4) — 3 cases
Andro Tolentino v. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., Westin Hotel Mgmt., LP, 437 S.W.3d 754 (Mo. 2014). “Tolen-tino filed suit pursuant to the Missouri Minimum Wage Law (MMWL), section 290.500 1 et seq., alleging that Respondents, as his joint employer along with Giant Labor Services Inc.”
Delise diaz v. Autozoners, LLC, D/B/A Autozone, 484 S.W.3d 64 (Mo. Ct. App. 2015). “at 757 (quoting ■ § 290.500(4)). There are five factors, courts generally look to in the economic realities test: (1) who has the power to hire and fire the worker; (2) who supervises and controls the worker’s work schedule and conditions of work; (3) who determines the rate and…”
Schwenk v. Primal Innovation, LLC (W.D. Mo. 2025).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.