New Nebraska paid sick leave law takes effect on October 1, 2025

Nebraska voters passed Initiative 436 in the November 2024 general election, mandating that Nebraska adopt paid sick leave. As with any ballot initiative, there are always practical factors in actual employment situations that require conforming such an initiative to existing Nebraska law. Therefore, the legislature passed, enabling legislation in the form of LB 415, and the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act is now codified in the Nebraska Statutes at Neb. Rev. Stat. §48-3801 through §48-3811 (2025). The new paid sick leave law takes effect on October 1, 2025, but Nebraska employers must be prepared by September 15 to send out notices to all employees and have posters from the Nebraska Department of Labor in place before the Act goes into effect. Let’s examine the key requirements of this new law for Nebraska employers.

Coverage

All private employers in Nebraska with more than 10 employees will be covered by the Act. Employers with 10 or fewer employees will be exempt from the Act, as are the federal government and the state of Nebraska and its agencies, departments, and political subdivisions.

Any individual employed by an employer, including part-time and temporary employees, will be covered by the Act. The Act does provide exemptions, however, and the following individuals are exempt from the Act’s requirements: