Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Nebraska
Last updated: Mar 03, 2026
Contribution
| Employer Payroll Contributions | |
| 0.00% – 1.9% | State Unemployment Insurance (SUI), applied for positive rated employers on the first 9,000 USD of each employee’s wages.
The rates are determined based on the employer’s experience with unemployment claims and contributions. |
| 5.40% | State Unemployment Insurance (SUI), applied for negative rated employers on a taxable wage base of 24,000 USD.
The rates are determined based on the employer’s experience with unemployment claims and contributions. |
| 1.25% | State Unemployment Insurance – New Employer, applied on the first 9,000 USD of each employee’s wages. |
| 6.20% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) - Social Security, applied on salary up to 176,100 USD per year. |
| 1.45% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) – Medicare.
An additional 0.9% should be withheld from employees earning above 200,000 USD per year. |
| 0.60% – 6.00% | Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), applied on salary up to 7,000 USD per year.
Employers who pay their state unemployment tax in full and on time are eligible for a 5.4% tax credit, reducing the FUTA rate to 0.6%. |
| 9.50% – 20.30% | Total Employment Cost |
| Employee Payroll Contributions | |
| 6.20% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) - Social Security, applied on salary up to 176,100 USD per year. |
| 1.45% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) – Medicare.
An additional 0.9% should be withheld from employees earning above 200,000 USD per year. |
| 7.65%-8.55% | Total Employee Cost |
| State Employee Income Tax | |
| State Tax – Single | |
| 2.46% | 0 – 2,999 USD |
| 3.51% | 2,999 – 17,999 USD |
| 5.01% | 17,999 -28,999 USD |
| 5.20% | Above 28,999 USD |
| State Tax – Married – Joint Filing | |
| 2.46% | 0 – 5,999 USD |
| 3.51% | 5,999 – 35,999 USD |
| 5.01% | 35,999 -57,999 USD |
| 5.20% | Above 57,999 USD |
| Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption | |
| Single | 7,900 USD |
| Married – Joint Filing | 15,800 USD |
| Federal Employee Income Tax | Annual |
| Federal Tax – Singles | |
| 10.00% | Up to 11,925 USD |
| 12.00% | 11,925 – 48,475 USD |
| 22.00% | 448,475 – 103,350 USD |
| 24.00% | 103,350 – 197,300 USD |
| 32.00% | 197,300 – 250,525 USD |
| 35.00% | 250,525 – 626,350 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 626,350 USD |
| Federal Tax – Married – Joint Filing | |
| 0.00% | Up to 23,850 USD |
| 12.00% | 23,850 – 96,950 USD |
| 22.00% | 96,950 – 206,700 USD |
| 24.00% | 206,700 – 394,600 USD |
| 32.00% | 394,600 – 501,050 USD |
| 35.00% | 501,050 – 751,600 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 751,600 USD |
| Federal Tax – Heads of Household | |
| 10.00% | Up to 17,000 USD |
| 12.00% | 17,000 – 64,850 USD |
| 22.00% | 64,850 – 103,350 USD |
| 24.00% | 103,350 – 197,300 USD |
| 32.00% | 197,300 – 250,500 USD |
| 35.00% | 250,500 – 626,350 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 626,350 USD |
| Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption | |
| 15,000 USD | Single |
| 30,000 USD | Married Filing Jointly |
| 22,500 USD | Head of Household |
Minimum Wage
General
The state minimum wage in Nebraska is 13.50 USD per hour.
The Federal minimum wage rate is 7.25 USD per hour.
Payroll
Payroll Cycle
In general, employees in Nebraska are paid either semi-monthly or monthly, with payments on set dates as stipulated in the employee contract.
13th Salary
There is no legislation for 13th-month payments in Nebraska.
Working Hours
General
The standard working week in Nebraska consists of a maximum of 40 hours per week, 8 hours per day.
Overtime
Nebraska adheres to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), with overtime being paid when employees work more than 40 hours in a working week.
The employer must pay 150% of the regular salary rate for the extra hours worked. Similarly, if employees are scheduled to work on weekends or rest days, no additional payment is required.
However, should an employer request an employee to work in exceptional circumstances on these days, then overtime will be paid at 150% of the regular salary rate for the extra hours worked.
The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the FLSA.
Leave
Annual Leave (vacation)
Nebraska does not have any state statute governing the amount and payment of vacation time; however, it is common for employers to decide to offer paid vacation leave.
This must comply with employment law and must be stipulated in the employment contract or collective bargaining agreement.
Public Holidays
Public holidays are not mandatory paid days off, but employers commonly allow workers to take federal holidays as paid days off.
Some companies might also agree to allow workers to take off state holidays; workers can find specific state holiday dates from their local government.
Usually when an agreed public holiday falls on a weekend, a day off in lieu is given on the Friday before or the Monday after the holiday.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2025 | Wednesday | New Year’s Day | |
| 20 Jan 2025 | Monday | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | |
| 17 Feb 2025 | Monday | Presidents Day | |
| 26 May 2025 | Monday | Memorial Day | |
| 19 Jun 2025 | Thursday | Juneteenth | |
| 4 Jul 2025 | Friday | Independence Day | |
| 1 Sep 2025 | Monday | Labor Day | |
| 13 Oct 2025 | Monday | Columbus Day | |
| 11 Nov 2025 | Tuesday | Veterans Day (applicable to veterans and active military only) | |
| 27 Nov 2025 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | |
| 28 Nov 2025 | Friday | Day After Thanksgiving | |
| 25 Dec 2025 | Thursday | Christmas Day |
Sick Days
It is common for an employer to follow the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for specific family and medical reasons (maternity leave, serious illnesses, or if the employee needs to care for a spouse or child).
Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for their employer for at least one year, completed a minimum of 1,250 hours over the past year, and worked at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.
FMLA eligible employees are entitled to:
- 12 working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth.
- Leave for the adoption or foster care of a child and care for the newly placed child within one year of placement.
- Care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a severe health condition.
- Leave in the event of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
- Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.”
Or
- 26 working weeks of leave during a single one-year period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).
Maternity Leave
Maternity leave falls under the FMLA.
Paternity Leave
Paternity leave falls under the FMLA.
Parental Leave
Parental leave falls under the FMLA.
Other Leave
Nebraska law requires all employers to provide their full-time employees job-protected but unpaid leave for their duty as jurors or as a witness in a case, responding to a subpoena, or acting as a plaintiff or defendant in the courts.
Employees must provide a copy of the jury summons to the employer as evidence of requirement.
In addition to the federal law USERRA, Nebraska law provides protection against discrimination for members of U.S. armed forces, reserves, National Guard, commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, and any other category of persons designated by the president in a time of war or emergency.
Nebraska law requires that all employees who are registered to vote must be allowed to take up to two hours paid leave, to vote in any municipal, county, state or federal primary or general election.
Employees must provide reasonable notice to their employers to take time off to vote.
PAID MATERNITY LEAVE (DAYS)
Termination
Termination Process
Except in mass dismissals or as provided for in an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement, U.S. law does not impose a formal “notice period” to terminate an individual employment relationship, and employment is stipulated “at will.”
This means that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship without giving notice or reason, provided it is not illegal, e.g. based upon the discrimination on the grounds of a category protected by law, etc., as per the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
The employment contracts of executives and other highly skilled individuals often incorporate a “just cause termination” clause which mandates that the employer may only terminate the employee for “cause” and lists the permissible grounds.
In such cases, the parties negotiate the foundations for a “just cause” termination case-by-case.
Notice Period
In Nebraska, most employees are employed “at-will,” and either party can terminate the employment relationship without notice.
In Nebraska, PTO is considered wages and required to be paid out upon termination.
Whilst there is no official notice period, the general practice is to provide two weeks’ notice.
In mass dismissal cases the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) must be followed, and employers must give 60 days’ notice to impacted employees.
Severance Pay
Except as otherwise provided in an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement, employers do not need not make severance payments to terminated employees.
Employers who choose to offer severance need to have the provisions within the employee’s contract and agreed to by both parties.
Many employers choose to offer severance payment linked to the employee’s length of service, the most common practice being one week pay for every year of service.
Probation Period
No legal provision governs a formal “trial/probation period.”
However, it is common practice for employers to set a performance evaluation after an initially stated period of employment of between 3 and 6 months.
Minimal Statutory Termination Costs
Some states require PTO balances to be paid out during termination, also any bonuses or commissions that were promised in the employment contract
Immigration
Foreign nationals without permanent resident status or a work visa are not permitted to work in the United States.
An employer seeking to hire a foreign national may file a petition with the United States Department of Homeland Security/United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an employment visa on behalf of the prospective employee.
If the petition is approved, the prospective employee must obtain a “visa stamp” from a United States embassy or consulate (Canadian citizens are exempt from this requirement).
To get a temporary U.S. work visa, an employer must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). An approved petition must be part of the visa request; the types of visas include:
- H-1B – for applicants with a college degree hired to do specialized work. The visa is valid for three years and can be extended for an additional three years. The visa is connected to the employer that filed the petition. If there is a change of employer, the new employer must repeat the process. There are 65,000 H-1B visas available each year.
- H-1B1 – for applicants with a college degree from Chile and Singapore. The US government grants up to 1,400 visas to Chilean citizens and 5,400 from Singapore each year.
- H-2A – for temporary or seasonal agriculture work. It is limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
- H-2B – for temporary non-agricultural work. These visas are limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
- L – for intercompany transfers (people transferred from a foreign company to a US branch of the company.) The applicant must have been employed at the company for a year before the transfer and work in a managerial level position or higher with specialized knowledge.
- 0 – for people with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, or athletics.
The standard procedure is to obtain a short-term work visa and then apply for an immigrant visa after the employee has started working in the United States.
For those seeking employment-based immigrant visas:
- E-1 – highest priority employment for those with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, and athletics.
- E-2 – for those with advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
- E-3 – for skilled workers and professionals, as well as unskilled workers.
- E-4 – members of certain immigrant groups.
- E-5 – immigrant investors in US companies (substantial investment).
Alternatively, an employer may sponsor a potential employee’s application for permanent resident status, referred to as a “green card,” if the employee can establish that the potential employee is a multinational executive/manager transferee, has unique skills, or has been offered a job in the United States.
The employer must have been unable to recruit a U.S. worker who meets the position’s minimum requirements.
All employers are obligated to verify that all individuals they employ are authorized to work in the United States.
VAT
General
Nebraska has a States sales tax of 5.5%. Local jurisdictions can add additional taxes, ranging up to 2.5%.
Stay up to date on payroll & employment law changes
Version History
Payroll contributions and personal income tax rates have been updated.
See how Papaya can help you automate your global payroll or EoR whilst staying 100% compliant with local labor laws
Payroll and Benefits Guide
in United States – Nebraska
What’s covered in this guide:
- Employer/employee contributions
- Minimum wage
- Working hours
- Visa requirements
And more...
Public Holidays Calendar
| Date | Day | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2025 | Wednesday | New Year’s Day | |
| 20 Jan 2025 | Monday | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | |
| 17 Feb 2025 | Monday | Presidents Day | |
| 26 May 2025 | Monday | Memorial Day | |
| 19 Jun 2025 | Thursday | Juneteenth | |
| 4 Jul 2025 | Friday | Independence Day | |
| 1 Sep 2025 | Monday | Labor Day | |
| 13 Oct 2025 | Monday | Columbus Day | |
| 11 Nov 2025 | Tuesday | Veterans Day (applicable to veterans and active military only) | |
| 27 Nov 2025 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | |
| 28 Nov 2025 | Friday | Day After Thanksgiving | |
| 25 Dec 2025 | Thursday | Christmas Day |
Questions & Answers