Did Nebraska's law change from what voters approved?

Substantially. LB 415 (June 2025) exempted employers with 10 or fewer employees, added the 80-hour accrual waiting period, excluded seasonal agricultural workers and under-16s, and removed the employee's right to sue — enforcement now runs only through the Nebraska Department of Labor.

Can a Nebraska employer give attendance points for sick days?

Not for protected sick time — § 48-3805(3) bars absence-control policies from counting it toward adverse action. Nebraska DOL guidance allows points systems only if occurrences start after the employee's protected sick time is exhausted, which makes real-time balance tracking part of attendance compliance.

Does a Nebraska employer have to pay out unused PTO at termination?

Vacation: yes — earned vacation is wages under § 48-1229(6) and must be paid at separation, no matter what the handbook says. Statutory sick time: no payout required, but if you deliver it through a combined PTO bank, it may become payable as vacation.

When is the final paycheck due in Nebraska?

By the next regular payday or within two weeks of separation, whichever comes sooner — the same rule whether the employee was fired or quit.

Can a Nebraska employer require a doctor's note?

Only when sick-time use runs more than three consecutive work days — and the employee's own written statement suffices when professional documentation is unavailable or impractical. Health details can never be demanded, and notice procedures bind only employees who received your written policy.

Nebraska sick leave law & call-off rules

Q: Is paid sick leave required in Nebraska?

Yes, for employers with 11 or more employees, since October 1, 2025: 1 hour per 30 hours worked after an 80-hour waiting period, cappable at 40 hours a year for employers with 11–19 employees and 56 hours at 20 or more. Employers with 10 or fewer employees are entirely exempt under LB 415.

Nebraska's Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Initiative 436) took effect October 1, 2025 — but not as voters wrote it. LB 415 narrowed it first: employers with 10 or fewer employees are exempt entirely, an 80-hour waiting period was added, and the private lawsuit was removed. What didn't change: Nebraska's long-standing rule that earned vacation is wages that must be paid out at termination. Here is what applies in 2026.

Nebraska at a glance

Paid sick leave mandate	Yes at 11+ employees — 1 per 30; 40-hour cap (11–19) / 56-hour cap (20+)
Small employers	10 or fewer: fully exempt (LB 415 rewrite of the ballot measure)
Attendance points on sick time	Barred by § 48-3805(3); NDOL: points may start only after protected time is exhausted
Vacation at termination	Wages — payout mandatory under § 48-1229(6), even for sick time merged into a PTO bank
Doctor's notes	Only past 3 consecutive work days; employee self-statement can suffice
Final paycheck deadline	Next payday or two weeks, whichever is sooner — fired or quit
Jury duty	Paid — normal wages minus juror compensation

Is paid sick leave required in Nebraska?

Yes, at 11 or more employees. Under the Act as amended (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 48-3801–3811), covered employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick time per 30 hours worked after an 80-hour waiting period. Employers with 11–19 employees may cap accrual and use at 40 hours per year; 20 or more, 56 hours. Ten or fewer: fully exempt — a rewrite of the ballot version, courtesy of LB 415. Seasonal ag workers, under-16s, and sub-80-hour-per-year workers are excluded.

How Nebraska's sick leave law works

Accrual rate	1 hour per 30 hours worked, after 80 hours of employment; front-loading permitted
Size tiers (LB 415)	≤10 employees: exempt · 11–19: 40-hour cap · 20+: 56-hour cap
Carryover	Required — unless you pay out unused time at year end and front-load the new year
Covered uses	Own or family illness, diagnosis, treatment, preventive care, and public-health closures or quarantine
Doctor's notes	Only for more than 3 consecutive work days — and the employee's own written statement suffices when professional documentation is impractical; health details can never be demanded
Call-in procedure	Notice rules are enforceable only through a written policy the employee actually received

The anti-retaliation rule: § 48-3805(3) prohibits absence-control policies from counting paid sick time as an absence leading to adverse action — and Nebraska DOL guidance blesses points systems only when points begin after protected sick time is exhausted. LB 415 removed the private right of action, so enforcement runs exclusively through the Nebraska Department of Labor.

The federal floor that still applies

FMLA

Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."

ADA

For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.

Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Nebraska

Nebraska is at-will, and for exempt small employers (10 or fewer) attendance policy remains almost entirely a matter of contract and the federal floor. At 11 employees the Act switches on, and its points rule is unusually concrete: the Nebraska DOL's guidance approves no-fault attendance systems only when occurrences begin after protected sick time is used up — which means your attendance ledger and your sick-time balances have to reconcile continuously, not just at year end. Notice rules only bind employees who received your written policy, so distribution records matter too. Enforcement is exclusively through the Department of Labor since LB 415. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system tied to accurate balances is what makes the exhaust-first-then-points rule practical.

PTO payout and final paychecks

Scenario	Rule	Source
Employee is fired or laid off	Next regular payday or within two weeks, whichever comes sooner	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1230
Employee quits	Same rule	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1230
Unused vacation / PTO	Earned vacation is wages — payout at separation is mandatory	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1229(6)
Unused statutory sick time	No payout — but sick time delivered through a combined PTO bank may become payable as vacation; balances reinstate on rehire within 12 months	HFWA; NDOL guidance

Nebraska is one of the few states where vacation payout is mandatory by statute — and merging sick time into a general PTO bank drags it onto that bill. Separate banks are the safer design. See how PTO accrual works.

Leave Nebraska employers must (and must not) provide

Leave type	Required?	Notes
Paid sick time	Yes at 11+ employees	Per the tiers above
Jury duty	Yes — paid	Normal wages minus court compensation (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1640); no adverse action
Voting	Yes — paid	Up to 2 consecutive hours unless the employee has 2 free hours while polls are open; prior application required
Meal breaks	Limited	30-minute lunch only in assembling plants, workshops, and mechanical establishments (§ 48-212)
Military	Yes	USERRA (federal) plus Nebraska National Guard protections

The Nebraska employer's attendance playbook

Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be state-protected sick time or FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.

Note: This is general information for Nebraska private-sector employers as of 2026, not legal advice. Federal contractors and public employers have additional rules, and laws change. Confirm specifics with qualified counsel.

Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.

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