Missouri Commercial Cleaning Insurance

Getting a Missouri cleaning company on the books

Missouri's wage story starts with Proposition A, which voters passed on November 5, 2024. It raised the minimum wage to $13.75 on January 1, 2025 and $15.00 on January 1, 2026 (RSMo 290.502), and it required paid sick time to start accruing May 1, 2025. Lawmakers then passed H.B. 567, which the governor signed July 10, 2025. Effective August 28, 2025, it repealed the sick leave law and dropped the yearly cost-of-living raises set to start in 2027. So $15.00 is the current floor, no further raise is scheduled, and there's no state paid-sick-leave mandate.

One exception matters for small companies: Missouri's wage law doesn't cover workers of a retail or service business with less than $500,000 a year in gross sales (RSMo 290.500). Federal wage law may still apply, so check with the Missouri Division of Labor Standards.

Registration and city licenses

File your entity or fictitious name with the Missouri Secretary of State and register with the Department of Revenue for withholding. We found no Missouri state license for commercial cleaning work.

Cities do license businesses, including companies based elsewhere. Springfield says a business located outside the city but working inside it will likely need a city license, and it sorts licenses into almost 200 categories by activity. Columbia's license year runs July 1 to June 30, and its fee is based on gross receipts, so each renewal reports what the business took in during its annual accounting period. Check with each city clerk where you hold contracts.

No sales tax on the cleaning

RSMo 144.020 taxes retail sales of goods and a set list of services, such as admissions, utilities, telecommunications and lodging, and cleaning isn't on it. The Missouri Department of Revenue's janitorial services tax matrix lists commercial and janitorial cleaning services as exempt. The same matrix makes the chemicals, paper goods, equipment and safety gear you buy for the work taxable purchases to you. Supplies you resell to a client would be taxable sales at the 4% state rate plus other levies. The Department notes the answer can turn on the facts, so confirm with it or your CPA.

Schools

RSMo 168.133 requires districts and charter schools to background-check employees authorized to have contact with pupils, screened volunteers and school bus drivers, including those of contracted bus companies. It doesn't expressly name janitorial contractors' staff, so checks on your cleaners come from each district's contract.

Missouri comp: the five-employee line for cleaning crews

Missouri splits employers in two. Construction-industry employers that erect, demolish, alter or repair improvements need comp with one employee. Everyone else, including a commercial cleaning company, needs it at five. If you do post-construction cleanup for builders, ask the Division which rule reaches your crews.

Below five. You can elect coverage, and most building clients will ask you to (RSMo 287.090).
Owners. A sole proprietor or partner sits outside the policy unless they opt in and pay for their own coverage (RSMo 287.035). When a corporation's whole staff is its one or two owners, it can file a notice with the Division to step out of the law.
Class. Missouri is an NCCI state, so contract janitorial payroll usually falls under Code 9014. NCCI's advisory loss cost for 9014, effective January 1, 2026, is 1.429 per $100 of payroll. That isn't your rate: each carrier files its own rates built on a loss cost, so your price will differ.
Penalties. RSMo 287.128 makes a knowing failure to insure a class A misdemeanor and adds a penalty to the state of up to three times the yearly premium you'd have paid or up to $50,000, whichever is greater. A repeat offense is a class E felony.

City offices mostly ask about comp from construction businesses: Columbia wants a certificate naming the city as holder from construction firms with one or more employees, and Springfield asks contractors for proof or a notarized exemption. Rules are on the Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation site.

What Missouri clients will ask you to prove

Janitorial work isn't on Springfield's published list of license categories that must show a bond or insurance, so in Missouri the demands come from your clients' contracts. Expect a property manager, school district or public buyer to ask for:

a certificate of insurance before the start date, and again at renewal
additional insured status on your GL, which takes an endorsement, not just a certificate
a comp certificate, often even when you're under the five-employee threshold
sometimes a janitorial bond, set at the amount the contract names

Missouri limits vary by buyer, so read each exhibit line by line. Our guides to cleaning contract insurance requirements and certificates of insurance walk through a full one.

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Missouri coverage that matters most

Workers' comp

Required at five employees, expected by clients well before that. Workers' comp

General liability

The first line on every Missouri exhibit, and where additional insured wording lives. General liability

Janitorial bond

Some clients want a bond so they're repaid if one of your cleaners takes something from their building. Janitorial bonds

Commercial auto

Vans and supervisors driving between buildings in St. Louis and Springfield traffic need business auto coverage. Commercial auto

Missouri risks a cleaning company can plan for

The growth gap at employee number five

Under five employees, a cleaning company isn't required to carry comp, but most building clients still want a certificate. Add a fifth worker for a busy season, counting family within the third degree, and you're subject to the Act that day. Missing that moment is a common way for a small company to end up uninsured.

Penalties for knowingly going without

Once you're subject to the Act, a knowing lapse can bring a penalty of up to three times the premium you avoided or up to $50,000, whichever is greater, plus a misdemeanor charge. Electing coverage before you hit five removes the guesswork.

Missouri cities and their local rules

St. Louis

Every employer with staff working in the City of St. Louis withholds the 1% earnings tax and pays a 0.5% payroll expense tax on wages earned in the city, filed quarterly on Forms W-10 and P-10. Businesses located only at Lambert International Airport skip the payroll expense tax because the airport sits outside city limits. Payroll and comp

Springfield

Springfield assigns one of almost 200 license categories by activity, and out-of-town companies working inside the city will likely need one. Get it at least two weeks before you start; licenses expire December 31. Janitorial isn't on the city's list of categories that must show a bond or insurance, so your coverage requirements come from client contracts. Janitorial bonds

Columbia

Columbia's license year runs July 1 to June 30. The fee is $0.25 per $1,000 of gross receipts, with a $75 minimum and a $10,000 cap, plus a $45 application fee. New businesses project their first year's receipts to set the fee, and an unpaid fee adds 15% of the license fee each month. General liability

Missouri cost factors

The $15.00 minimum wage that started January 1, 2026 raises payroll for crews paid near the floor, and comp is charged on payroll, so the premium follows. With no state sick-leave mandate after the repeal, there's no separate accrual to price into bids, though contracts and your own policies may still offer leave.

Your price depends on the payroll in each class code, your annual sales, the kinds of buildings you clean, how much specialty and chemical work you do, the vehicles your crews drive, your claims history and the limits your contracts require. See our cleaning insurance cost guide.

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Commercial Cleaning Insurance Group is a brand of The Allen Thomas Group, licensed in Missouri (License #3002368528, NPN 7642818).

Missouri cleaning companies with one building or fifty can start a quote with our team online.

Licensed in MissouriLicense #3002368528 · NPN 7642818

Frequently asked questions

Do cleaning companies need workers' comp in Missouri?

At five or more employees, yes, and family members within the third degree count. Below five you can elect coverage, which many clients expect anyway. Construction-industry employers follow a one-employee rule instead.

Is janitorial service taxable in Missouri?

No. Missouri's sales tax covers goods and a short list of services, and janitorial work isn't on it. Supplies you resell to clients can be taxable. Check with your CPA.

Do Missouri cleaning companies have to give paid sick leave?

Not under state law right now. Proposition A's sick time began accruing May 1, 2025, and H.B. 567 repealed it effective August 28, 2025. Check whether a client contract or local rule adds a requirement.

Do you insure commercial cleaning companies in St. Louis and across Missouri?

Yes. Our team places GL, comp, auto and janitorial bonds for Missouri cleaning companies statewide, matched to each contract's exhibit.

Commercial cleaning and janitorial insurance in Missouri