Employer of Record in Nebraska.
Minimum Wage Rising. Income Tax Falling.

Nebraska voters approved Initiative 433 in November 2022, and its final step took the minimum wage to $15.00/hr on January 1, 2026. The indexation that was to follow no longer applies: LB 258, signed February 10, 2026 and effective July 17, 2026, replaced CPI indexation with a fixed 1.75% increase each January 1, with the Nebraska Department of Labor publishing each year's rate by October 15 of the preceding year. LB 258 also created a $13.50 youth wage for non-emancipated 14 and 15 year olds, and a $13.50 training wage for new employees aged 16 to 19 during their first 90 days, extendable by a further 90 days for approved on-the-job training. WorkGenius applies the correct floor for each worker automatically on every effective date.

Nebraska's LB 754, enacted in May 2023, phases down individual income tax rates over several years. The top rate dropped from 6.84% to 5.84% effective January 1, 2024, then to 5.20% in 2025 and 4.55% on January 1, 2026, and reaches 3.99% on January 1, 2027. Each reduction requires payroll withholding tables to be updated - WorkGenius applies each change automatically so employees are not over-withheld.

Nebraska requires workers' compensation for all employers with at least one employee. There is no minimum headcount threshold - coverage is required from the first hire. WorkGenius maintains compliant coverage from day one and handles all claims administration.

Nebraska's Fair Employment Practice Act (NFEPA) covers employers with 15 or more employees and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, pregnancy, disability, religion, national origin, marital status, and age (40+). The Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission handles administrative complaints, and employees may pursue civil litigation after exhausting administrative remedies.

Yes, for sick leave. Nebraska voters passed Initiative 436 in November 2024, creating the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, in force since October 1, 2025 and amended by LB 415 (2025). Employers with 11 or more employees must provide earned paid sick time: accrual starts after 80 hours of employment at 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, capped at 40 hours a year for employers with 11 to 19 employees and 56 hours for employers with 20 or more. Written notice to employees and a workplace poster are required. Nebraska still has no state paid family leave program, so federal FMLA remains the only job-protected family leave. WorkGenius administers HFWA accrual, notice and posting, plus any voluntary PTO policy and federal FMLA.

Only in a narrow form, and Nebraska is not a blue-pencil state. Nebraska courts will not enforce a true general non-compete against an employee. What they will enforce is a covenant limited to customers with whom the employee actually did business and had personal contact. If a covenant reaches further than that, the court will not rewrite it: in Gaver v. Schneider's O.K. Tire Co. (2014) the Nebraska Supreme Court repeated that it is not the function of the courts to reform unreasonable covenants solely to make them enforceable, and H&R Block Tax Services v. Circle A Enterprises (2005) holds that a court must either enforce the covenant as written or not at all, so an invalid portion voids the remainder. Nebraska has no statutory ban or income threshold. WorkGenius drafts Nebraska covenants to the customer-contact limit and relies on confidentiality and trade secret protection for everything beyond it.