Nebraska employment law is governed primarily by the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act (NFEPA, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 48-1101 et seq.), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, pregnancy, national origin, and age (40 and over). Unlike the New Mexico Human Rights Act (which added sexual orientation and gender identity explicitly), Nebraska's NFEPA has not enacted explicit statutory protection for sexual orientation or gender identity — though after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (590 U.S. 644), federal Title VII protection for LGBTQ+ workers applies in Nebraska through federal law even without a parallel state statute. Nebraska cities including Omaha and Lincoln have enacted local anti-discrimination ordinances that provide broader protections than the state NFEPA — Omaha's Human Rights Ordinance (Omaha Municipal Code § 13-75 et seq.) covers sexual orientation and gender identity for Omaha employers.
Nebraska is a "right to work" state under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-217 — one of the original 1947 right-to-work states (Nebraska enacted its right-to-work provision before the Taft-Hartley Act and embedded it in the Nebraska Constitution, Article XV, Section 13). Nebraska's constitutional right-to-work provision means that union membership or payment of union dues cannot be required as a condition of employment at Nebraska workplaces — even when a union is the certified collective bargaining representative of the employees. The right-to-work principle has shaped Nebraska's labor-management relations for over 75 years and affects the union membership rates, collective bargaining dynamics, and labor organizing efforts in Nebraska's major industries (meatpacking, transportation, healthcare, and construction).
Need employment contracts or HR documents?
Offer letters, NDAs, non-competes, and severance agreements — state-specific.
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