Beginning September 15, 2025, Nebraska employers must provide the required paid sick leave notice, and Nebraska employees begin accruing paid sick time on October 1.  FAQS, model notices, and posters can be found on the Nebraska Labor Standards website here.  

As a reminder, Nebraska voters approved Initiative 436, the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (“Act”), which requires:

• Covered Employers - The Act applies to most employers but does not apply to the United States or Nebraska, its agencies, departments, or political subdivisions.
• Covered Employees - The Act applies to most individuals employed by an employer in Nebraska, and employees must begin accruing time once they have worked 80 consecutive hours. 
• Accruals - Employees accrue 1 hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 20+ employees can cap accruals at 56 hours, and employers with less than 20 employees can cap accruals at 40 hours. Or, employers can provide all paid sick time that an employee is expected to accrue at the beginning of the year (i.e., frontload). 
• Carryover - All accrued but unused sick leave must carry over to the next year, but employers can limit an employee's usage for the year to 56 hours of leave (or 40 hours of leave for employers with less than 20 employees).  Or, employers can pay employees for accrued but unused time at the end of the year and frontload sufficient paid sick leave at the beginning of the next year.  Frontloading does not eliminate the carryover requirement.
• Permitted Uses - Employees can use the leave for reasons related to an employee’s need for care, to care for a family member, time related to work closures due to a public health emergency, and time needed to address instances of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.  Nebraska broadly defines “family member” and includes any individual related by blood or whose close association is the equivalent of a family relationship.