Family and Medical Leave in Nebraska

Like employers in every state, Nebraska employers must follow the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows eligible employees to take unpaid leave for certain reasons. Once an employee's FMLA leave is over, the employee has the right to be reinstated to his or her position.

And starting on October 1, 2025, all Nebraska employers will be required to provide paid sick leave under the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplace Act.

Nebraska law also gives employees the right to take time off for military family leave and adoption leave. Employees are entitled to the protections of all applicable laws; if more than one law applies, the employee may use the most beneficial provisions.

Federal FMLA Rights

Unlike some other states, Nebraska does not have its own family and medical leave law. However, Nebraska employees are entitled to the protection of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

The FMLA requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the employee's serious health condition, to bond with a new child, to care for a family member with a serious health condition, or to prepare for a family member's military service (called "qualifying exigency leave").

Up to 26 weeks are available for employees who need to care for a military family member with a serious injury or illness sustained on active duty. (You can find more information on these last two types of leave in our article on military family leave for employees.)

Employees are eligible for FMLA leave if they:

• have worked for the employer for at least a year
• have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to taking leave, and
• work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius.

Employees are entitled to continued health insurance coverage while on leave, at the same cost as if they were working. Employees are typically entitled to reinstatement after their FMLA leave to the same or an equivalent position.

For a more detailed overview of the FMLA, see our article on taking family and medical leave.

Paid Sick Leave in Nebraska: Coming October 2025

In November 2024, Nebraska voters passed Initiative 436, known as the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplace Act, which requires employers to provide paid sick leave starting October 1, 2025.

The law applies to all private employers, regardless of size, and covers employees who work at least 80 hours in a calendar year in Nebraska. There are a few exceptions, including government workers and those covered under specific federal laws, but agricultural workers are not exempt.

Accrual

Under the law, employees earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 20 or more workers must offer up to 56 hours of sick time annually, while smaller employers must provide up to 40 hours.

Unused sick time usually rolls over to the next year, unless employers opt to pay it out.

Permitted Uses

Sick leave can be used for a wide range of health needs, including:

• caring for one's own illness, injury, or health condition
• obtaining preventative medical care
• caring for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
• attending a meeting necessitated by a child's mental or physical health condition, at a school or place where the child is receiving care, or
• caring for a child whose school has closed during a public health emergency.

The law broadly defines "family member" to include step-children, step-parents, foster children, grandparents, siblings, and other close associations who are considered the equivalent of family.

Documentation

Employers can require reasonable documentation if an employee is out for three or more days—though documentation can be a written statement if a doctor's note would be a hardship.

Employers must give all employees written notice of their rights under the law by September 15, 2025, and post notices at the workplace in multiple languages, if needed.

Penalties

The Nebraska Department of Labor will enforce the law, and employers could face fines of up to $5,000 for repeated violations. Employers should start preparing now by updating their leave policies, training staff, and setting up systems to track leave and protect health information confidentiality.

You can find a list of FAQs about the new law on the Nebraska Department of Labor website.

Nebraska Military Family Leave

Nebraska employers with at least 15 employees must give unpaid time off to an employee who is the spouse or parent of someone called to military service of at least 179 days, for the state or the United States, on orders of the governor or the president. Employees are eligible if they have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months prior to the start of the leave.

The amount of leave available depends on the size of the employer:

• Employers with 15 to 49 employees must provide up to 15 days of leave.
• Employers with at least 50 employees must provide up to 30 days of leave.

Employees are entitled to leave while state or federal deployment orders for the family member is in effect.

Nebraska Adoption Leave

All employers that provide parental leave following the birth of a child must make the same leave available to parents who adopt a child under the age of nine (or under the age of 19, if the child has special needs). This provision does not extend to stepparent or foster parent adoptions, however.