Compromise amendment rejected, paid sick leave restrictions advanced to final round

Lawmakers ultimately rejected a compromise amendment May 13 after initially adopting it during the second-round of debate on a bill that would narrow provisions of a ballot initiative passed by Nebraska voters to guarantee earned paid sick leave.

The successful ballot initiative, passed last November, provides eligible Nebraska employees the right to earn and use paid sick leave for family health needs based on the size of their employer — up to 40 hours annually for employers with fewer than 20 employees and 56 hours for businesses with more than 20 employees.

LB415, sponsored by Lincoln Sen. Beau Ballard, would exempt individual owner-operators, independent contractors and individuals who work fewer than 80 hours annually from the provisions of the initiative, known as the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act.

As amended on general file, employees paid on a commission, piece-rate, mileage or fee-for-service basis would accrue paid sick leave based on an average weekly rate of pay calculation already outlined in state law. Employers who have policies that equal or exceed the amount of paid sick leave required by the initiative would not be required to provide any additional leave.

The measure also would clarify that employers are not required to pay out employees for unused paid sick time when they leave their place of employment. Employees who are rehired within 12 months would have their unused sick time reinstated.

Lastly, LB415 clarifies that employees would begin to accrue paid sick leave after 80 hours of consecutive employment. The measure would take effect Oct. 1, 2025.

The bill was amended on general file to include provisions of Sidney Sen. Paul Strommen’s LB698, which would exempt several groups from the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act — including temporary and seasonal agricultural employees, workers under age 16 and businesses with 10 or fewer employees.

Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh opposed the bill with the exemptions and offered an unsuccessful motion to bracket LB415. She said Strommen’s proposal “silences” the voice of nearly 75% of voters in the state who chose to grant all working Nebraskans the right to earn paid sick leave without any exceptions.

“I do not believe in undoing the will of voters,” Cavanaugh said.

Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln supported the bracket motion. A recent analysis indicated that a broad majority of Nebraska voters opposed the significant changes proposed in LB415, she said, with the majority of polled voters in every major political party indicating support for a potential ballot referendum to preserve the intent of the original ballot initiative.

Kearney Sen. Stan Clouse opposed the bracket motion and supported the underlying bill, which he said would help protect the smallest businesses in the state from costly mandates.

“Small businesses are what makes our communities grow,” Clouse said, “and this is one way we can support them.”

Strommen offered an amendment on select file, initially adopted on a 36-4 vote, to instead exempt businesses with five or fewer employees from the act. The amendment also would allow workers younger than 16 to qualify for paid sick leave if they are an emancipated minor, a parent or have a dependent.

Strommen said the amendment was the result of conversations with members of the business community, representatives from the ballot initiative and other opponents on how to provide flexibility to the state’s smallest employers.

Omaha Sen. John Fredrickson supported the amendment but said he could not support the underlying bill with the inclusion of LB698. While the amendment would provide paid sick leave to an additional 30,000 working Nebraskans, he said, the underlying measure still would leave over 100,000 Nebraskans without the ability to earn paid sick leave.

“I just have a really hard time with the idea of making exceptions for some and leaving others behind,” Fredrickson said.

Just before the end of four hours of debate, Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte made a successful motion to reconsider the vote taken on the Strommen amendment, expressing concern that senators were not aware of what they were voting for and the impact it would have on local businesses.

He said small businesses could be forced to limit staff or close entirely due to the increased costs associated with mandated paid sick leave.

“A job beats benefits,” Jacobson said.

Ballard then filed a motion to invoke cloture, which ceases debate and forces a vote on the bill and any underlying amendments and motions. The cloture motion was successful on a 33-14 vote. Thirty-three votes were needed.

Lawmakers then voted in favor of the motion to reconsider their earlier vote and rejected the Strommen amendment 15-28 before advancing LB415 to final reading 33-14.