Nebraska WARN Act
Nebraska is among the growing number of U.S. states who have adopted a geography-specific law regulating workforce reductions. The Nebraska Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which goes into effect July 18, 2026, mandates that employers provide employees and their local communities with advance notice of certain business closings or mass layoffs.
The Nebraska WARN Act, commonly known as a Mini-WARN Act, offers greater protection than the federal WARN Act—a labor law that requires a 60-day notice before certain employee layoffs and plant closings.
Nebraska employers should read and understand the state’s Mini-WARN Act to ensure their offboarding processes promote compliance with the law’s requirements.
What is the Nebraska WARN Act?
The Nebraska WARN Act mandates advance notice of certain business closings and mass layoffs and takes effect on July 18, 2026. First proposed as part of Legislative Bill 921, Governor Jim Pillen signed the law on April 14, 2026.
Under the Nebraska WARN Act, employers with 100 or more employees—excluding part-time employees, which are defined later in this article—must provide 90 days’ advanced notice to affected employees, union representatives, and the Nebraska Department of Labor prior to a business closing or mass layoff.
Nebraska WARN differs from the Federal WARN Act in several key ways, which are defined throughout this article and summarized at the end.
What triggers the Nebraska WARN Act?
The Nebraska WARN Act is triggered by certain business closings and mass layoffs, as defined here:
Business closing: The permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment of one or more facilities or operating units that will result in an employment loss for one hundred or more employees, other than part-time employees.
Mass layoff: A reduction in employment force that is not the result of a business closing and results in an employment loss at a single site of employment during any thirty-day period of one hundred or more employees, other than part-time employees.
There are two additional definitions employers should be familiar with when determining whether Nebraska WARN has been triggered:
Employment loss: An employment termination, other than a discharge for cause, voluntary separation, or retirement; a layoff exceeding six months; or a reduction in hours of more than fifty percent of work of individual employees during each month of a six-month period. However, the term “employment loss” does not include instances when a business closing or mass layoff is the result of the relocation or consolidation of part or all of the employer's business and, before the business closing or mass layoff, the employer offers to transfer the employee to a different site of employment within a reasonable commuting distance with no more than a six-month break in employment.
Part-time employee: An employee who is employed for an average of fewer than twenty hours per week or an employee, including a full-time employee, who has been employed for fewer than six of the twelve months preceding the date on which notice is required. The law also notes that, if an applicable collective bargaining agreement defines a part-time employee differently, that definition will supersede the definition as written.
Who should receive Nebraska WARN Act notices and when?
To comply with the Nebraska WARN Act, notice must be provided to the affected employees, their representatives, and the Nebraska Department of Labor. These notices need to be sent 90 days prior to the employment loss.
What should the Nebraska WARN notice include?
The written notice must include these five items:
The name and address of the employment site where the business closing or mass layoff will occur, and the name and telephone number of a company official to contact for further information;
A statement as to whether the planned action is expected to be permanent or temporary and, if the entire business is to be closed, a statement to that effect;
The expected date of the first employment loss and the anticipated schedule for employment losses;
The job titles of positions to be affected and the names of the employees currently holding the affected jobs. The notice to the department shall also include the addresses of the affected employees. The department shall maintain the confidentiality of the names and addresses of employees received by the department; and
Copies of all employee handbooks, personnel policies, and employment-related policies applicable to the affected employees, or a written statement identifying the specific online location or locations where such handbooks or policies may be accessed without restriction up until the expected date of the first employment loss.
Can Nebraska employers provide severance pay in lieu of notice?
Yes. The Nebraska WARN Act states that the 90-day notice requirement “may be reduced by the number of days for which severance payments or wages in lieu of notice are paid by the employer to the employee for work days occurring during the notice period.” The amount of severance pay or wages in lieu of notice must at least be equivalent to the regular pay the employee would earn during the notice period.
Are there exceptions to the Nebraska WARN Act?
Yes. First, the Nebraska WARN Act specifies that notice is not required when a business closing or mass layoff constitutes a strike or a lockout not intended to evade the Act’s requirements.
Nebraska WARN also details the following three exceptions to the 90-day notice period.
Seeking capital, which applies to business closings only and “shall be narrowly construed.” Employers must be able to show that they were seeking capital or business at the time notice would have been required. The employers must demonstrate that it was a realistic opportunity to obtain the financing or business sought, and, if obtained, it must have been sufficient to avoid or postpone the shutdown.
Unforeseeable business circumstances, defined as “some sudden, dramatic, and unexpected action or condition outside the employer's control” leading to mass layoffs or business closings. If unforeseeable business circumstances occur, the employer must provide an explanation for reducing the notice period.
Natural disasters, which are defined as “floods, earthquakes, droughts, storms, tornadoes, and similar effects of nature.” In the case of a natural disaster, the employer must be able to demonstrate that the business closing or mass layoff is a direct result of the natural disaster.
What if a business closing or mass layoff is postponed?
If a planned business closing or mass layoff is postponed beyond the originally announced date but for fewer than 30 days, the employer must provide additional notice as soon as possible—and the updated notice should include the earlier date, the new date, and the reason for the postponement. If the postponement is longer than 30 days, it should be treated as a new notice subject to all of the Nebraska WARN requirements.
How does Nebraska WARN handle aggregate losses?
Nebraska employers must also be mindful of aggregate losses over a 90-day period. Specifically, the law states:
An employer shall give notice if the number of employment losses of two or more actions in any ninety-day period triggers the notice requirements in section 3 of this act for a business closing or a mass layoff. An employer is not required to give notice if the number of employment losses from one action in a thirty-day period does not meet the requirements of section 3 of this act. All employment losses in any ninety-day period shall be aggregated to trigger the notice requirement unless the employer demonstrates to the department that the employment losses during the ninety-day period are the result of separate and distinct actions and causes.
This is worded differently than the Federal WARN Act in that it suggests the 90-day aggregation requirement is only applicable if a single employment action triggers Nebraska WARN. Additional guidance will be provided as it becomes available.
What are the penalties if an employer doesn’t comply with the Nebraska WARN Act?
While Federal WARN allows employees to sue in federal court for 60 days’ back pay and benefits, the Nebraska DOL is responsible for enforcing the Nebraska WARN Act. The Nebraska DOL may impose a civil penalty of up to $100 per day of violation, but the civil penalty “shall be the exclusive remedy for any violation” of Nebraska WARN. The law specifies that, “Under the act, a court shall not have authority to enjoin a business closing or mass layoff.”
How is Nebraska WARN different than the Federal WARN Act?
There are several notable differences between the Nebraska WARN Act and the Federal WARN Act. Among these include:
Longer notice period: Nebraska WARN requires 90 days’ advance notice of business closings and mass layoffs, while the Federal WARN Act only requires a 60-day notice. The law as enacted does specify that, “if an applicable collective bargaining agreement designates a different notice period, the notice period in the collective bargaining agreement shall govern.”
No percentage threshold for “mass layoffs”: The Nebraska WARN Act applies when 100 or more employees suffer an employment loss, regardless of the percentage of the workforce affected. Under the Federal WARN Act, a mass layoff occurs when (1) 50 or more full-time employees experience employment loss AND (2) those employees represent at least 33% of the full-time workforce at the site of employment. An event is also considered a mass layoff under Federal WARN if 500 or more employees experience a loss of employment regardless of the percentage of the workforce.
List of affected employees requires additional information: To comply with Federal WARN, employers must simply provide relevant government entities with a list of job titles affected by the employment loss. However, Nebraska WARN requires that notices to employees and their representatives must include the job titles and employee names. Notices to the Nebraska DOL must also include the addresses of affected employees.
Access to copies of employment-related policies: Nebraska WARN also requires employers to provide copies of applicable employee handbooks, personnel policies, and employment-related policies—or a statement regarding how to access them online up until the date of the first employment loss. Federal WARN has no comparable requirement.
Multilingual posting requirement: The Nebraska WARN Act also requires that notice is posted at the worksite in every language spoken by at least 5% of the employer’s workforce. Federal WARN does not have a similar stipulation.
Notice requirements due to postponement of employment loss: Under Nebraska WARN, updated notices must be provided if the business closing or mass layoff is postponed for fewer than 30 days. New notices must be issued for postponements longer than 30 days. Under Federal WARN, a new notice is only required for postponements of 60 or more days.
Different interpretation of aggregate losses: Federal WARN stipulates that employment losses must be aggregated over a 90-day period to determine if the notice threshold is met. In other words, several otherwise non-qualifying events could combine to trigger Federal WARN. However, as proposed in the enacted draft of the Nebraska WARN Act, aggregate losses are only counted if a single action in a 30-day period triggers the Nebraska WARN threshold for a business closing or mass layoff.
Can Onwards HR help employers comply with Nebraska WARN?
Absolutely. Employers in Nebraska must be aware of the state’s mini-WARN Act to ensure compliance during qualifying business closings or mass layoffs. Onwards HR’s offboarding compliance platform makes it easy for employers to analyze multiple employment events to determine whether they trigger Federal or state-specific WARN thresholds and, when necessary, helps generate and distribute the appropriate notices.
Onwards HR simplifies offboarding complexity through centralization, enabling HR professionals to view employee separation information in a single platform.
Are you ready to prioritize compliance while modernizing your offboarding process? Request a demo to learn more.
