State law impacts the workplace as much if not more than federal law. Nebraska workers gained some protections in the recently adjourned legislative session. Equally important, Nebraska workers didn’t lose any rights or protections in the recently adjourned session.

However, most legislation that would have benefited employees stalled. Nebraska’s low threshold for filibusters and traditional deference to committees makes it difficult to pass legislation without broad support. Most of the proposed legislation that would have affected the workplace lacked that broad support in the legislature.

Nebraska will likely retain its business-friendly litigation climate and middle of the pack ranking in comparative costs of our workers compensation systems (Overall costs of workers’ compensation are declining)

So here is the good and so-so of enacted legislation effecting workplace laws in Nebraska. I will also touch on what didn’t pass and talk about some interim studies that might affect legislation down the road.

The Good

LB 217 introduced by Lincoln Senator Patty Pansing Brooks, would make it illegal for an employer to retaliate against employees for discussing salaries. A few years ago, I would have thought the bill would be unnecessary because the National Lanor Relations Act (NLRA) broadly protected concerted activity in the workplace. But in 2018 the Supreme Court handed down the Epic decision which narrowed the definition of concerted activity under the NLRA. Workers in Nebraska will get back some of those pre-Epic protections.

LB 418 — This law, introduced by Omaha Senator Machaela Cavanaugh would prohibit debt collection of medical bills related to a work injury during the pendency of a workers compensation claim. Nebraska has drawn national media attention for how our laws favor aggressive debt collection. This law protects injured workers.

The law requires injured workers and or their attorneys put in a fair amount of work to comply with the new rule. Employees are required to file a petition to invoke protection of the law, so I would be interested to see if the number of petitions filed in the workers compensation court increases.

The collections bill was also paired with a bill that made it easier for non-resident aliens to receive agreed upon settlement proceeds.

On a side note, Cavanaugh has asked for an interim study by the Business and Labor Committee to study the effectiveness of Nebraska’s anti-discrimination laws

The Bad

The bad news of this legislative session for workers’ in Nebraska is that most legislation that could have helped workers did not get enacted into law. Here are some highlights (or lowlights):

LGBT rights — Legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity within the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act fell well short of the necessary votes to overcome a filibuster.

Omaha’s municipal human rights ordinance prohibits discrimination on gender identity and sexual orientation grounds. Lincoln city council member Jane Raybould hinted at a recent town hall type meeting that Lincoln’s “fairness ordinance” that would include sexual orientation and gender identity within Lincoln’s human rights ordinance might be a ballot question in 2020.

The LGBT community may have some protections from discrimination on the job under a “sex plus”  theory of discrimination which outlaws sex stereotyping.

Employee classification — LB 577 ntroduced by Omaha Senator Tony Vargas would have expanded the power of the Nebraska Department of Labor to shut down worksite suspected of misclasfiying employees as independent contractors. The state loses out on tax revenue through misclassification, while workers miss out on workplace protections like workers compensation and unemployment through being misclassified.

Senator Vargas has also proposed an interim study about workers classification that will bear close scrutiny as it will certainly discuss how to classify gig economy workers and discuss so-called portable benefit laws in Nebraska 

Workers compensation — The legislature shelved legislation that would have clarified when temporary disability ends and permanent disability begins. I’ve blogged extensively about the gap or squeeze that can arise when an injured worker isn’t receiving any types of benefits but can’t work or aren’t allowed to return to work.

The legislature also shelved legislation that would have provided death benefits in workers compensation cases, to workers without dependents.  increased funeral benefits and would have limited expenses charged for medical reports. Likewise the legislature also didn’t pass legislation that would have made it easier for firefighters and other first responders to collect workers’ compensation benefits.

Wage and hour and unemployment — Legislation that would have provided paid leave and prohibited retaliation under Nebraska’s Wage Payment and Collection Act didn’t pass. Legislation limiting mandatory overtime for overburdened corrections workers also did mot pass. Legislation that would have expressly included quitting to take care of a family member as a good cause for a quit. was rejected  Lawmakers also rejected a propsal to increase the minimum wage for tipped employees and to index the state minimum wage for inflation.

The so-so

LB 428 exempted highway constriuction employees on seasonal layoff from job search requirements as a condition of receiving unemployment compensation. I pointed out that while business as a whole likes tough work search requirements as a condition of receiving unemployment, construction employers who have seasonal layoffs don’t like them as it gives employees incnetive to switch jobs.

I believe this was somewhat of a missed opportunity. Like other states with weak rural internet connections, Nebraska’s internet-based system to log job search information with the state is difficult to navigate for rural employees. The legislature needs to fix the mechanism that eligibile workers use to receive their unemployment benefits.