USA – NEBRASKA Law and Practice Contributed by: Tara Paulson, Mark Fahleson and Julie Schumacher, Rembolt Ludtke LLP
agricultural workers; and employers subject to the federal Railway Labor Act. The NLRA protects the rights of employees to form, join and support a union or to refrain from doing so. Employees who want a union to be their collective bargaining representative can authorise the union to bargain with their employer over employee wages, hours and working conditions. Under Nebraska law, state and local public employ - ees have the right to form, join and participate in any employee organisation of their choosing, or to refrain from such. The rights of state employees are largely governed by the State Employees Collective Bargain - ing Act (SECBA) as well as the Industrial Relations Act (IRA). The rights of county, municipal, public school and other local government employees with respect to collective bargaining is covered solely by the IRA. Nebraska law prohibits employers from denying a person employment because of membership or non- membership of a labour organisation. 6.2 Employee Representative Bodies State and local government public employees desiring to be represented by a labour organisation for pur - poses of collective bargaining may do so by filing a petition with the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations (CIR). Pursuant to the rules of the CIR, such a petition must contain the following: • a description of the appropriate unit or the unit claimed to be appropriate by the petitioner for pur - poses of exclusive representation – the description shall indicate the job classifications and general geographic locations of employees sought to be included and excluded from the unit; • the approximate number of employees in the unit claimed to be appropriate; • the date of recognition or certification, if any, of the unit and the expiration date of any applicable agreement; • the names, addresses and telephone numbers of each interested labour organisation; • a request for an election, which shall be supported by a showing as provided in Rule 10; • a concise statement of the petitioner’s position with reference to any controversy concerning pro - cedures for the conduct of the election; and
• a concise prayer for the relief or order sought. 6.3 Collective Bargaining Agreements Under Nebraska law, state and local government public employees are to be subject to rates of pay and conditions of employment which are comparable to the prevalent wage rates paid and conditions of employment maintained for the same or similar work of workers exhibiting like or similar skills under the same or similar working conditions. In the event the parties cannot reach an understanding as to what is “comparable”, the dispute is submitted to the Nebras - ka Commission of Industrial Relations for determina - tion. If the employment relationship is “at will”, it means that an employee has no contractual right to contin - ued employment. Best practices dictate that employ - ers should have clear and explanatory documenta - tion of the termination decision and the basis for any employment termination. In the context of a lawsuit claiming that the termination decision was unlaw - fully discriminatory or retaliatory, many statutes per - mit an employer to avoid liability where they are able to articulate a legitimate, non-discriminatory (and/or non-retaliatory) basis for making their decision. Termination of Employment by Operation of Contract Where the employer and employee have entered into an employment agreement, that agreement will often address how and under what circumstances the employment relationship will terminate. Close atten - tion should be paid to the language of the employment agreement, especially where there are defined terms addressing termination for “cause”, “change of con - trol” and other provisions. 7. Termination 7.1 Grounds for Termination At-Will Terminations Employees are not entitled to severance pay as a result of termination unless the employer agrees to provide it according to the terms of an agreement or policy or makes a discretionary decision to offer it. Many employers offer severance pay upon termina -
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