In November 2024, Nebraska voters passed the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA) that requires certain employers to provide certain employees with paid sick leave. The HFWA goes into effect October 1, 2025, and employers subject to the HFWA would be well served to review its requirements to understand what changes they may need to implement.
Covered Employers
The HFWA applies to any individual, partnership, limited liability company, association, corporation, business trust, legal representative, or organized group of persons who employs 11 or more employees.
Different requirements apply to “small businesses” which employ between 11 and 19 individuals and did not have 20 or more employees on its payroll during 20 or more calendar weeks in current or preceding calendar year.
The Nebraska Department of Labor indicates they will only consider individuals who work in Nebraska at least 80 hours per calendar year when determining employer size.
Covered Employees
All employees of covered employers are covered by the HFWA with the exception of:
- Individual owner-operators;
- Independent contractors;
- Individuals who work in Nebraska fewer than 80 hours in a calendar year;
- Individuals employed in agricultural employment of seasonal or other temporary nature; and
- Individuals under 16 years old.
Reasons for Leave:
Leave may be taken under the HFWA for the following reasons:
- Employee’s or employee’s family member’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; employee’s or employee’s family member’s need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, employee’s or employee’s family member’s need for preventive care;
- Attend meeting necessitated by employee’s child’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition at a school or place where child is receiving care;
- Closure of employee’s place of business by public official due to public health emergency
- Care for employee’s child whose school or place of care is closed by public official due to public health emergency; and
- an employee’s need to self-isolate or care for the employee or a family member when it has been determined that the employee’s or family member’s presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others because of exposure to a communicable disease.
Amount of Leave
After 80 hours of consecutive employment, employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employers who qualify as a “small business” can limit accrual and use to 40 hours in a year while employers who do not qualify as a “small business” can limit accrual and use to 56 hours of paid sick time in a year. Employers may count any paid sick time provided between January 1, 2025, and October 1, 2025, towards their obligation to provide paid sick time that begins October 1, 2025.
Accrued but unused paid sick time carries over from year to year though use of paid leave can still be limited to 40 or 56 hours per year. Carryover is not required if an employer pays out unused paid sick time at the end of the year and provides the minimum amount of paid sick time immediately at the beginning of the next year.
Employers can frontload the required amount of paid sick time at the beginning of the calendar year instead of requiring employees to accrue paid sick time as they work.
Employers with existing paid leave policies can use those policies to comply with HFWA as long as the existing policy provides an amount of paid leave that is equal to or exceeds the requirements of HFWA and the existing paid leave can be used in accordance with the requirements of HFWA.
Employer Requirements
Employers must provide employees with a written notice regarding the HFWA by September 15, 2025, or the commencement of employment, whichever is later. This notice can be used to satisfy the written notice requirement.
Employers must also post a poster containing information about the HFWA in a conspicuous and accessible environment. A model poster is available for this purpose.
Employers must provide employees with a written policy containing reasonable procedures for providing notice that the employee is using paid sick time covered by the HFWA.
The FAQs provided by the Nebraska DOL indicate that employers should provide employees with a statement following each regular pay period that provides:
- the amount of paid sick time available;
- the amount of paid sick time taken; and
- the amount of pay the employee received in sick time.
Employers can use an online system that employees can access to provide this information. Employers will want to ensure their records are able to demonstrate HFWA compliance to the Nebraska DOL.
Key Takeaways:
Employers with employees working in Nebraska would be well served to review the requirements of the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act. Employers subject to the law may need to take action to ensure compliance with the law’s requirements.
The information provided is a summary of laws and regulations relating to employee benefit plan compliance. This information should not be construed as legal advice. In all cases, employers should consult with their own legal counsel.
