Why this industry is facing challenges
Kansas-based companies that employ workers in Missouri need to make sure their 2026 payroll reflects a substantial increase in the state minimum wage. As of January 1, 2026, the Missouri minimum wage is $15.00 per hour, up from $13.75 in 2025. Read the current Missouri rates directly from the Department of Labor & Industrial Relations to confirm figures before finalizing year-end payroll. For tipped employees, Missouri law requires at least $7.50 per hour in direct wages—50 percent of the state minimum—plus enough tips to bring total compensation to $15.00. The state's own guidance on tipped-employee overtime sets the overtime floor at $22.50 per hour, calculated as $15.00 plus half the minimum. Employers that calculate tipped wages against the older rates, or that fail to true-up a worker whose tips fall short, risk underpayment claims under both state and federal law.
How BluePeak can help
Standard EPLI forms routinely exclude wage-and-hour claims such as failure to pay minimum wage, failure to pay overtime, and failure to pay required tips. That exclusion is not an oversight; it reflects the view that statutory wage claims are operational compliance failures, not employment-mistake liabilities. Some carriers now offer a narrow defense-cost endorsement for wage-and-hour claims, but it is limited to attorney fees, filing fees, and discovery costs. It does not pay a settlement or a judgment, and it is still subject to the policy deductible. A handful of insurers have begun writing limited indemnity coverage for wage claims, typically at higher premiums and with very large deductibles. At BluePeak, when we review a Kansas employer's policy program ahead of a January renewal or mid-term change, we read the definitions and exclusions line by line rather than trusting the declarations-page headline. We also check whether the choice-of-counsel language actually preserves your right to keep the employment attorney you already trust, or whether the insurer can substitute a panel firm you have never dealt with. These are terms-and-conditions issues, not sales-pitch issues, and they are exactly what a proper policy review surfaces.
What to prepare for an insurance review
If you run a Kansas business with one or more Missouri employees, pull the following before a 2026 review:
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Current Missouri schedules. Audit tip-tracker software that auto-populates at the old $13.75 rate.
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Payroll and tip records. Pull your current payroll register and tip records, and audit any tip-tracker software to confirm it auto-populates at the current $15.00 rate—not the prior $13.75 figure.
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Payroll and tip records. Underpayment of a tipped kitchen or wait-staff employee in Missouri is a wage-and-hour claim, and it is the kind of claim that, as employment-law attorneys have observed, standard EPLI excludes unless you bought a specific endorsement.
Quick answers
Does my EPLI cover a wage-and-hour claim?
Usually not. Most standard EPLI forms exclude wage-and-hour claims — failure to pay minimum wage, failure to pay overtime, and failure to pay required tips — so treat the exclusion as the baseline, not the exception. Some policies add a narrow defense-cost endorsement that pays attorney fees, filing fees, and discovery costs, but it does not pay a settlement or a judgment and remains subject to the deductible. Whether any of it applies to your program is decided by the policy terms, so read the definitions, exclusions, and endorsements before relying on the declarations-page headline.
My company is in Kansas but the employee works in Missouri — whose wage rules apply?
Missouri's. For a covered employee who performs work physically in Missouri, Missouri sets the floor: $15.00 per hour as of January 1, 2026, or at least $7.50 in direct wages plus enough tips to reach $15.00 for tipped employees. Federal FLSA standards still apply on top of that. Where payroll is headquartered does not change the answer — where the work is actually performed does. Talk to us about your multi-state roster so the review reflects where work is actually performed, not where payroll is headquartered. Request a policy review for your 2026 renewal →