The Nebraska Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The federal minimum wage is a wage baseline, but different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own rates.

As of January 1st, 2025, the minimum wage is $13.50 for most employees.

Nebraska has a state-set minimum wage. Local cities tend to follow this wage amount and do not set their own higher rates.

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Tipped minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate employers are legally obligated to pay employees who earn a significant portion of their income through tips. 

$2.13 per hour for most tipped employees

The total of the hourly wage plus tips must be at least $13.50 per hour.

Nebraska does not have its own overtime laws. Employers must follow the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires non-exempt employees to receive paid time and a half for every hour worked over 40 hours within a workweek.

Nebraska wage and hour laws generally require employers to provide nonexempt employees in assembly plants, mechanical establishments, and workshops at least 30 consecutive minutes for lunch in each 8-hour shift. 

Aside from those industries, employers are not generally required to offer any specific breaks to their employees.

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Vacation leave
Nebraska does not require employers to provide paid time off to their employees.

Paid Sick Leave
Currently, Nebraska has no state laws requiring private employers to provide paid or unpack sick leave, but employers can have their own sick policies. 

However, effective October 1, 2025, a new law in Nebraska will require paid sick leave for most private-sector employees who work in the state for at least 80 hours per year.

Under Initiative 436, which passed late last year, employees must accrue at least one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours for employers with 20 or more employees and 40 hours for employers with fewer than 20 employees.

Paid sick leave must carry over to the following year, but employers may limit annual usage to the accrual cap, i.e. 56 hours for large employers and 40 hours for small employers.

Holidays
Nebraska observes 12 state holidays. Public permanent employees are entitled to paid holiday leave for the duration of the holiday. However, private employers are not required to provide paid or unpaid holiday leave.

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Nebraska State Laws for minors 14-15:

• Cannot work more than 8 hours per day

• Cannot work more than 48 hours per week

• Cannot work in jobs that are dangerous to life or limb

• Cannot work before 6 AM or after 10 PM

  • Minors must have a special permit issued by the Nebraska Department of Labor to work before or after those hours. The permit only lasts 90 days and must be renewed after that time period. 

Nebraska State Laws for minors 16-17:
Nebraska’s child labor laws do not apply to youth ages 16 plus.

Hiring
Nebraska’s Fair Employment Practice Act (FEPA) prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating during the hiring process based on these characteristics:

• Race

• Color

• Religion

• Sex

• Disability

• Marital status

• National original

• Age (40 or above)

In addition, Nebraska is one of the twenty-eight states with Right-to-Work Laws. These laws prohibit employers from requiring applicants to join a union as a condition of employment. 

Firing
Nebraska employers have the right to terminate employees at will for nearly any reason and no reason at all provided the reason is not unlawful.