AbsentEase
Nebraska sick leave law & call-off rules
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); points can start only once 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 — so a points system is workable only when occurrences begin after protected sick time is exhausted; ordinary attendance rules apply to absences the Act doesn't cover. 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.
FLSA overtime and attendance bonuses
A cash bonus promised in advance for good attendance counts as wages under federal overtime law. It has to be added into the regular rate for the weeks it covers, so any of those weeks over 40 hours owes extra overtime on the bonus, usually recalculated after the bonus is paid. State overtime law can add to this, but can't go below it. See how attendance bonuses change overtime pay.
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: § 48-3805(3) bars counting protected sick time toward adverse action, so a no-fault attendance system works 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.
After a no call, no show termination in Nebraska
| Does Nebraska law define job abandonment? | No statute or regulation defines job abandonment; it is set by employer policy. (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-628.12; § 48-628.10(1), (3)) |
|---|---|
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a discharge | Whenever an employer 'separates an employee from the payroll, the unpaid wages shall become due on the next regular payday or within two weeks of the date of termination, whichever is sooner' (political subdivisions follow a governing-body meeting schedule under (4)(b)). (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1230(4)(a)) |
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a resignation | The same rule applies to every separation, including a resignation with or without notice: wages are due on the next regular payday or within two weeks of the date of termination, whichever is sooner. (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1230(4)(a)) |
| Accrued PTO at separation | Payout required by state law. 'Wages' includes fringe benefits 'when previously agreed to and conditions stipulated have been met,' and 'Paid leave, other than earned but unused vacation leave, provided as a fringe benefit by the employer shall not be included in the wages due and payable at the time of separation, unless the employer and the employee ... have specifically agreed otherwise' (§ 48-1229(6), added 2007 after Roseland v. Strategic Staff Mgmt., 272 Neb. 434, 722 N.W.2d 499 (2006), which held accrued vacation 'is due and payable as wages upon termination'); in Fisher v. PayFlex Systems USA, 285 Neb. 808, 829 N.W.2d 703 (2013) the court held unused 'paid time off' hours are unused vacation leave payable at separation 'when the only stipulated condition for earning the hours is the rendering of services and an employee has an absolute right to take this time off for any purpose,' while sick leave usable only for illness has no value at separation absent agreement (Loves v. World Ins. Co., 276 Neb. 936 (2008)) and employees who never met stipulated earning conditions are owed nothing (Drought v. Marsh, 304 Neb. 860 (2020)); the new paid sick time act likewise does not require payout of unused sick time (§ 48-3803(10)). (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1229(4), (6); Roseland v. Strategic Staff Mgmt., 272 Neb. 434 (2006); Fisher v. PayFlex Systems USA, 285 Neb. 808 (2013); § 48-3803(10)) |
| Unemployment claims | For benefit years beginning on or after Oct. 1, 2018, a claimant who left work voluntarily without good cause is disqualified until earning wages in insured work of at least four times the weekly benefit amount and separating from later employment under nondisqualifying conditions (§ 48-628.12); a claimant discharged 'for misconduct connected with his or her work' is disqualified for the week of discharge and the fourteen weeks that follow, and if the misconduct was 'gross, flagrant, and willful, or unlawful' the claimant is totally disqualified on wage credits earned before the discharge (§ 48-628.10(1), (3)); the statute does not define misconduct and has no consecutive-days rule. |
If a state agency later treats a "resignation" as a discharge, the discharge deadline governs, so pay by the earlier of the two when in doubt. Document each step with the no call, no show write-up and termination letter templates, which fill in Nebraska's final-pay rule.
Write a no call, no show policy that fits Nebraska
Start from our no call, no show policy guide and free template, or let the generator turn nine quick questions into a signature-ready policy with Nebraska already selected so the protected-leave section names the state law described above.
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.
Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.