Paid Sick Leave Laws in Nebraska and Iowa

Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act

Legislation has been introduced in the Nebraska Legislature to amend the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (“Act”). LB698 amends the Act to remove temporary or seasonal agricultural workers and youth under 16 years of age from the definition of employee, exempts employers with ten or fewer employees from the Act, and provides that the Nebraska Department of Labor is the sole enforcer of the Act, rather than through private actions. It was heard by the Business and Labor Committee on February 3.

LB415 amends the Act to remove individual owner/operators and independent contractors from the definition of employee, expands the definition of paid sick time, starts the accrual of paid sick time after 80 hours of consecutive employment, allows for paid time provided to an employee this year before October 1, 2025, to be counted towards the employer’s obligations under the Act, and clarifies that employers are not required to pay an employee for unused sick time upon the employee’s separation from employment. The hearing on LB415 was February 24 before the Business and Labor Committee.

While the Act does not go into effect until October 1, 2025, the Act defines several important terms, including:

• Employee: Any individual employed by an employer, excluding those working fewer than eighty hours in a calendar year in Nebraska or those covered by the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. (Note that the initiative does not specify that those hours be worked for the employer from which or whom sick time is claimed.)

• Employer: Any entity employing one or more employees, excluding the United States, the State of Nebraska, and its political subdivisions.

• Family Member:

a. Any of the following, regardless of age: A biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis;

b. A biological, foster, step, or adoptive parent or a legal guardian of an employee or an employee’s spouse;

c. A person who stood in loco parentis to the employee or the employee’s spouse when the employee or employee’s spouse was a minor child;

d. A person to whom the employee is legally married under the laws of any state;

e. A grandparent, grandchild, or sibling, whether of a biological, foster, adoptive, or step relationship, of the employee or the employee’s spouse; or

f. Any other individual related by blood to the employee or whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.

• Paid Sick Time: Time compensated at the same hourly rate and with the same benefits as the employee typically earns during hours worked.

• Small Business: An employer with fewer than 20 employees (whether full time, part time, or temporary) on its payroll in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year

ACCRUAL OF PAID SICK TIME

Paid sick time begins to accrue at the commencement of employment or October 1, 2025, whichever is later, and can be used as it is accrued. Employees accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick time for every thirty hours worked. For exempt employees, accrual is based on a presumed forty hour workweek unless their typical workweek is less.

The Act sets annual caps on paid sick time:

• Small Businesses (19 or fewer employees): 40 hours

• All other Employers (20 or more employees): 56 hours

Accrued but unused paid sick time must be carried over to the next year. Alternatively, employers may provide a lump sum at the beginning of the year and pay out any remaining leave at the end of the year.

PURPOSES FOR PAID SICK TIME

Paid sick time can be used for:

• The employee’s own mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition (or their need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of the same) and for preventative medical care.

• Care for a family member includes the same opportunities as permitted for the employee and adds expanded coverage related to children, allowing the employee to attend meetings necessitated by the child’s health at a school or place where the child is receiving care.

• Closure of the employee’s place of business or a child’s school due to a public health emergency.

• Self-isolation or care for a family member due to exposure to a communicable disease.

EMPLOYEE USE OF PAID SICK TIME

Paid sick time must be provided upon an oral request. Employers may require reasonable documentation for absences exceeding three consecutive workdays. Note that reasonable documentation does not necessarily mean that the employer can require a doctor’s note under the language of the initiative – the documentation that can be required will vary depending on circumstances. Employers who require notice of the need to use sick leave must provide the employee with a written policy containing the procedures to provide notice. The employer cannot require the employee to find replacement coverage as a condition of taking leave.

Employers are prohibited from requiring disclosure of detailed health information as a condition for providing paid sick time. Any health information obtained must be treated as confidential and maintained separately from other personnel records.

EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS

The Act protects employees from retaliatory actions for exercising their rights. Employers must provide written notice to employees about their rights and the terms of paid sick time. This information must be displayed in conspicuous places and provided in English and other languages spoken by at least five percent of their workforce if a poster approved by the Department of Labor is available.

ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES

The Nebraska Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing the Act. Among other penalties stated in the Act, employers found in violation face citations and administrative penalties, ranging from up to $500 for a first violation and $5,000 for a second or subsequent violation. Employers have only 15 days to challenge the citation. Employees have the right to file suits for violations and seek legal and equitable relief, including reasonable attorney’s fees.

IOWA CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

Iowa does not have a state-mandated paid family leave program for private sector employees. However, the Iowa

Civil Rights Act of 1965 requires employers with four or more employees to provide a pregnant employee with a leave of absence for the period the employee is disabled because of the employee’s pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, or for eight weeks, whichever is less. When paid leave is not available, the employee is to be provided unpaid leave. The employee is to provide timely notice of the period of leave requested and the employer must approve any change in the period requested before the change is effective. Before granting the leave, the employer may require that the employee’s disability resulting from pregnancy be verified by medical certification stating that the employee is not able to reasonably perform the duties of employment.

Editor’s Note: This article is not intended to provide legal advice to our readers. Rather, this article is intended to alert our readers to new and developing issues and to provide some common sense answers to complex legal questions. Readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel or the author of this article if the reader wishes to obtain a specific legal opinion regarding how these legal standards may apply to their particular circumstances. The author of this article, Jerry L. Pigsley, can be contacted at (402) 4378500, jpigsley@woodsaitken.com, or at Woods Aitken LLP, 301 S. 13th Street, Suite 500, Lincoln, NE 68508-2578. 