Employment 2025

USA – NEBRASKA Law and Practice Contributed by: Tara Paulson, Mark Fahleson and Julie Schumacher, Rembolt Ludtke LLP

Employee Liability Generally, Nebraska employees may be liable for their actions. Nebraska follows the doctrine of respondeat superior, which holds that an employer may be vicari - ously liable for an employee’s acts committed within the scope of employment or liable for the negligent hiring, supervison or retention of an employee.

An aggrieved employee may file a private suit against an employer. If successful, the law entitles the employ - ee to: • reinstatement without reduction in wages, seniority or other benefits; • lost wages or other benefits; • court costs; and • reasonable attorneys’ fees. Voting Leave and Election Worker Leave All employers must provide voting leave if necessary. Nebraska employees are eligible for Election Worker Leave if they are appointed to serve as: • a judge or clerk of election; To be enforceable in Nebraska, confidentiality agree - ments must protect legitimate business interests, such as the need to protect trade secrets, proprietary information or other confidential information. Confi - dentiality agreements must be limited to the period of time the information is useful or becomes public through no fault of the employee. Nebraska employers should be mindful to not draft confidentiality provi - sions so broad as to interfere with employee conduct protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) including protected communication regarding terms and conditions of employment. • a precinct or district inspector; • a canvassing board member; or • any other election worker. Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Nebraska does not have any general law addressing non-disparagement requirements. Private employers in Nebraska should follow the National Labor Rela - tions Board (NLRB) precedent, which has held that broadly worded non-disparagement provisions may be unlawful to the extent such provisions interfere with protected employee conduct under the NLRA. Accordingly, non-disparagement provisions should be tailored to prohibit only those statements about the employer that are false or made with reckless disre - gard for the truth or falsity of the statement.

2. Restrictive Covenants 2.1 Non-Competes

Nebraska has no law generally governing non-com - petes in employment. Under Nebraska common law, a non-compete is enforceable in Nebraska if it is rea - sonable. A non-compete is reasonable if the restric - tion: • does not harm the public interest; • is no greater than reasonably necessary to protect the employer in a legitimate business interest; and • is not unduly harsh and oppressive to the employ - ee. In the context of the sale of a business, a non-com - pete is enforceable only if it is no greater than neces - sary to protect the buyer’s interest in the business’s goodwill and the restrictions are reasonable in char - acter, space and time. Reasonable Restrictions A non-compete in Nebraska must contain time restric - tions and geographic restrictions no greater than nec - essary to protect the employer’s legitimate business interests. Nebraska courts may consider the following factors when determining whether a time restriction and geographic restriction is reasonable: • the difference in bargaining power between the employer and employee; • the employer’s risk of losing customers; • each party’s participation in establishing custom - ers; • the employer’s good faith; • the employee’s training, education and family needs; • the current economic conditions;

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