Nebraska Changes State Minimum Wage Calculation and Enacts Youth Minimum Wage

Nebraska has made changes to the state’s minimum wage provisions, training wage provisions, and youth minimum wage.

  • State Minimum Wage: Starting January 1, 2027, the state minimum wage will increase based on a fixed annual increase of 1.75% percent, rather than on a cost of living adjustment based on consumer price index.
  • Youth Minimum Wage: An employer may pay a youth minimum wage of $13.50 per hour to an employee who:
    • Is at least fourteen years of age but younger than sixteen years of age; and
    • Is not an emancipated minor.
    • Beginning on January 1, 2030, and on January 1 of every fifth year thereafter, the youth minimum wage will increase by 1.5%, rounded to the nearest cent.
  • Training Wage: An employer may pay a new employee who is at least sixteen years of age but younger than twenty years of age and who is not a seasonal or migrant worker or an emancipated minor a training wage rate as follows for 90 days from the date the new employee was hired:
    • $13.50 per hour through December 31, 2026; and
    • Beginning on January 1, 2027, and on January 1 of each year thereafter, the training wage rate will increase by 1.5%, rounded to the nearest cent.
       

Access the enacted bill here.

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