As the Nebraska legislature winds down its Spring session, a few bills related to employment are still being considered.

They are:

  • LB58 – Senator Tyson Larson of O’Neill introduced a bill prohibiting Nebraska employers from requesting or requiring employees/applicants to provide account information and passwords which would allow employers access to employee’s/applicant’s private social networking profiles, such as Facebook.
  • LB177 – Senator Jim Smith of Papillion seeks to expand the scope of the Wage Payment Collection Act by allowing the Labor Commissioner to investigate claims against employers, subpoena records and witnesses in connection with enforcement of the Act, and assess civil penalties against employers up to $1,000 per violation.
  • LB560 – Senator Heath Mello of Omaha seeks to add whistleblower provisions to the Nebraska Wage and Hour Act and Nebraska Employee Misclassification Act, making it unlawful to discriminate or retaliate against an individual who is opposed to any practice or participated in an investigation under these laws. LB560 would also require employers to:
    • keep employment records for five years;t
    • require employers to provide employees with 30 days written notice before altering their wages; and
    • require employers to provide employees with an itemized statement listing wages and deductions each payday.
  • LB485 – Senator Danielle Conrad of Lincoln seeks to amend the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act to include sexual orientation as a protective category. The amendment would prohibit employers of 15 or more employees from discriminating against applicants or employees based on their sexual orientation. Religious organizations would be exempt from these amendments.

None of the bills listed above had been prioritized or brought out of Committee, so it is unlikely that any of them will pass this session.  But, they may be reconsidered next session.  We’ll keep you posted.