New hiring laws in Nebraska for 2027: the $15.26 minimum wage, a youth wage, the state WARN Act, health care staffing rules and what employers do next

As of November 2026, Nebraska's 2026 session made a handful of employer changes, mostly in pay and workforce rules rather than in how candidates are screened. LB258 replaced cost-of-living indexing of the minimum wage with 1.75% yearly increases, so the rate is $15.26 from January 1, 2027, and since July 18, 2026 employers may pay 14- and 15-year-olds a $13.50 youth wage. LB921 created a state WARN Act with 90 days' notice for large closings and layoffs, and from July 1, 2027 it requires health care staffing agencies to register and bans their non-compete clauses. LB847 set up a state Office of Registered Apprenticeship. There is still no pay range, salary history or private E-Verify law.

Nebraska bills without an emergency clause become law three calendar months after the Legislature adjourns, as the Legislature's lawmaking guide explains; the 2026 session adjourned on April 17, 2026, and the Department of Labor dates LB258's changes July 18, 2026. Each item below links to the slip law, the Labor Department, or the Legislature's own news service, the Unicameral Update, whose Business and Labor session review summarizes the bills. The standing checklist (unemployment and Form 20 registration, the W-4N, the paid sick time notice, new-hire reporting) is in our Nebraska hiring hub.

Which Nebraska hiring laws changed in 2026, and what changes in 2027?

Nebraska laws and the federal rules that apply to Nebraska employers, sorted by date.

What does LB258 change about Nebraska's minimum, youth and training wages?

Voters set the minimum wage to reach $15.00 on January 1, 2026 and then follow the cost of living. LB258, approved February 9, 2026, replaces the indexing with increases of 1.75% a year, as the Unicameral Update describes it, and the Department of Labor's poster (updated July 31, 2026) lists the result: $15.00 through 2026, $15.26 from January 1, 2027, $15.53 in 2028, $15.80 in 2029 and $16.08 in 2030, for every employer of four or more people. The tipped cash wage stays $2.13 as long as wages and tips reach the minimum.

• Youth wage. Since July 18, 2026, an employer may pay a youth minimum wage of $13.50 an hour to an employee who is 14 or 15 and not an emancipated minor. It rises to $13.70 on January 1, 2030 and 1.5% every fifth year after that.
• Training wage. A new employee aged 16 to 19 who is not a seasonal or migrant worker may be paid a training wage for 90 days from hire, with the limits in section 48-1203.01: $13.50 through December 31, 2026 and $13.70 from January 1, 2027, then 1.5% more each year.

For recruiters, the practical change is in job ads and offers for entry-level and seasonal roles: state the right rate for the candidate's age and start date, and keep proof of age for anyone paid the youth or training wage. Federal and state child labor hour limits still apply to 14- and 15-year-olds.

What does Nebraska's new WARN Act require?

Sections 1 to 6 of LB921, approved April 14, 2026, are the Nebraska Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. An "employer" is a person with 100 or more employees, not counting part-time employees. An employer planning a business closing or a mass layoff that will cause an employment loss for 100 or more employees, other than part-time employees, at a single site may not order it until 90 days after it serves written notice on the affected employees or their representatives and the Department of Labor, unless a collective bargaining agreement sets a different period. A layoff of more than six months and a cut of more than half of an employee's hours in each month of a six-month period both count as employment losses. The federal WARN Act's 60-day notice, which the Department of Labor still lists, applies alongside it. For workforce planning, the state rule means a longer runway before a large layoff, which affects when replacement or redeployment hiring can start.

The same act changes unemployment rules that recruiters will notice: according to the Unicameral Update, a claimant must respond to an interview request or an offer of suitable work within one week or lose a week of benefits, and people working at a physical business location run by a marketplace network platform in a metropolitan or primary class city are classified as independent contractors for that law.

What changes for health care staffing agencies on July 1, 2027?

Sections 7 to 15 of LB921, the Health Care Staffing Agency Registration Act, "become operative on July 1, 2027." They require each health care staffing agency, whose workers provide direct services for health care entities, to register annually with the Department of Labor, bar any noncompete clause "restricting in any manner the employment opportunities of a worker" in an agency's contracts with workers or health care entities, and limit fees charged when a client hires the worker permanently. Registration fees, the scope of "direct services" and how to prepare are in our Nebraska staffing agency guide, and the non-compete angle is in Nebraska non-compete law. Review worker and facility contracts that will still be in force on that date.

What else changed for Nebraska employers?

• Apprenticeships and youth work. LB847, approved April 7, 2026, "took effect immediately," according to the Unicameral Update. It creates the Nebraska Office of Registered Apprenticeship in the Department of Labor as the state apprenticeship registry, changes youth employment certification procedures, moves the InternNE grant program to the Department of Labor, and lets the department assess an annual fee on employers under the Employment Security Act on a scale based on gross wages, capped at $15 million in total.
• Hotels and lodging. LB320 adds hotels and similar lodging establishments to the places that must display human trafficking posters and provides for optional employee training, with limited liability for owners, operators and employees who implement it.
• Safety committees. LB397 repeals the Workplace Safety Consultation Program and removes the requirement for private employers to keep a workplace safety committee; public employers subject to the Workers' Compensation Act still need one.
• International physicians. LB1212 lets the Department of Health and Human Services, with the Board of Medicine and Surgery, issue a provisional license of up to three years, beginning August 1, 2027, to a qualified internationally trained physician who agrees to work full time for a participating Nebraska health care entity, which must assess, supervise and evaluate the physician.

Which federal changes apply to Nebraska employers in 2026 and 2027?

• Form I-9. USCIS lists the 01/20/25 edition as current and allows the 08/01/23 edition until its 05/31/2027 expiration date; electronic systems had to move to the 05/31/2027 version by July 31, 2026.
• Work permits. The DHS final rule of October 14, 2026 finalizes the October 30, 2025 interim rule ending automatic extensions for EAD renewals in certain categories; see the EAD automatic extension guide.
• E-Verify. Every Nebraska public employer and public contractor must use E-Verify under section 4-114 (see E-Verify requirements in Nebraska), so the expanded Status Change Report and the January 8, 2027 deadline to download records of cases last updated on or before December 31, 2016 reach many of them.
• Federal contractors. The Labor Department's final rule rescinded the Executive Order 11246 regulations effective October 26, 2026; what remains is in job posting requirements for federal contractors.
• Criminal history. The EEOC rescinded its 2012 arrest and conviction records guidance on October 28, 2026 (EEOC release). Title VII still applies, and a job-related review using the Green factors from the 1975 Eighth Circuit case (the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it and the nature of the job) remains sound. Nebraska's public-employer ban-the-box rule in section 48-202 is unchanged; see ban the box in Nebraska and Nebraska background check laws.

What did not change in Nebraska?

• No pay range or salary history law; see Nebraska pay transparency and the Nebraska salary history page.
• Paid sick time rules in force since October 1, 2025, including the notice at the start of employment for employers with 11 or more employees, are set out in the hiring hub.
• Recording interviews still needs only one party's consent; see Nebraska recording consent for interviews.
• Drug testing rules are unchanged; see Nebraska drug testing laws.

What should Nebraska employers do before January 1, 2027?

1. Raise hourly pay to at least $15.26 from January 1, 2027, and $13.70 for training-wage hires, and post the updated Department of Labor poster.
2. Decide whether to use the youth wage for 14- and 15-year-olds, and keep age records if you do.
3. Add the 90-day state WARN notice to layoff planning if you have 100 or more full-time employees.
4. Review health care staffing contracts for non-competes and conversion fees ahead of July 1, 2027.
5. Check Form I-9 editions, EAD dates and pre-2017 E-Verify records, and remove references to the 2012 EEOC guidance from background check procedures.

What does this mean for staffing agencies in Nebraska?

Health care staffing agencies have the biggest 2027 task: register, and remove non-competes and excessive conversion fees from worker and facility contracts before July 1, 2027. Agencies that place entry-level or seasonal workers need the new youth and training wage rules and the 2027 minimum wage, and agencies with 100 or more full-time employees of their own fall under the state WARN Act. PEO registration is unchanged; see employer of record in Nebraska. Other states' 2027 changes are in new hiring laws for 2027.