NE · State teen labor law
Nebraska teen labor law — work hours, permits, and restricted jobs
Nebraska allows 14-15-year-olds to work from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM (looser than the federal 7:00 AM-7:00 PM window) and caps the summer week at 48 hours. School-issued Employment Certificate is required for 14-15-year-olds.
Quick facts
School year vs summer hour caps
Nebraska applies similar caps year-round, with small calendar adjustments shown below. Each age band below shows both calendars side-by-side — a distinction federal summaries and most state-comparison tables skip.
Ages 14–15
School year
When school is in session
- Hrs/day (school day)
- 3 hr
- Hrs/day (Sat / Sun / holiday)
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 18 hr
- Time window
- 06:00 – 22:00
Note: Nebraska's time window for 14-15 is 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM (vs. federal 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM). Hour caps still mirror federal FLSA.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 48 hr
- Time window
- 06:00 – 22:00
Note: Summer cap of 48 hours per week (8 more than federal). Same 6:00 AM-10:00 PM window.
Ages 16–17
School year
When school is in session
- Max hours per day
- No state limit
- Max hours per week
- No state limit
- Time window
- No state limit
Note: Nebraska imposes no state hour or time-of-day restriction on 16- and 17-year-olds.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- No state limit
- Max hours per week
- No state limit
- Time window
- No state limit
Work permit
Nebraska requires a work permit for minors aged 14–15.
Minors 14-15 obtain an Employment Certificate from their school superintendent. The minor presents a Statement of Intent to Employ from the employer plus proof of age. 16- and 17-year-olds do not need a state certificate.
Form: Nebraska Employment Certificate
Nebraska work-permit reference (official source) →
Jobs by age
Age-specific guides to common allowed jobs in Nebraska, with the federal hour caps and the state’s stricter rules built in.
Restricted occupations
All federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17
Federal: 29 CFR Part 570
Operating power-driven meat-processing machines
Federal: HO-10
Roofing operations and work on or about a roof
Federal: HO-16
Door-to-door sales for minors under 16 without adult supervision
State: Neb. Rev. Stat. §48-302
Sale or service of alcohol for minors under 21
State: Neb. Rev. Stat. §53-180
See the full federal hazardous orders (HO-1 to HO-17) for plain-English summaries, or the Nebraska hazardous-orders deep-dive for the federal floor plus Nebraska-specific additions.
Breaks & meal periods
Nebraska applies one general meal-break rule to all employees, including minors. Federal law (the FLSA) mandates no break at any age, so this state rule is the binding one for teens too.
- Meal break
- 30 minutes
- Required after
- 8 consecutive hours
- Pay treatment
- Unpaid
Unpaid when the teen is completely relieved of duty.
Nebraska's only mandated break is narrow: an employer operating an assembling plant, workshop, or mechanical establishment must give employees at least 30 consecutive minutes for lunch in each 8-hour shift, and may not require them to remain in the building or on the premises during it. This covers minors who work in those industries, but it is not minor-specific and does not reach retail, food-service, or office work — a Nebraska teen working at a store or restaurant gets no state-required break (the federal floor, which mandates none, applies). The lunch period is unpaid when the employee is fully relieved of duty, and Nebraska's child-labor statute (§§ 48-301 to 48-313) adds no separate break rule.
See the federal breaks & meal-period reference for how the FLSA treats paid rest breaks vs unpaid meal periods, and why a mandatory teen break can only come from state law.
Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-212
Pay & minimum wage
Nebraska lets some teens, or inexperienced first-job and trainee workers, be paid below the standard state minimum wage. The structure below is stable, but the dollar amount changes almost every year — confirm the current figure with the Nebraska Department of Labor.
- How minors are paid
- Youth / training subminimum allowed
- State minimum wage
- Set by state law
- Below-minimum youth rate
- Permitted
- Subminimum structure
- LB 258 (effective July 17, 2026) put two state subminimum paths below Nebraska's general minimum wage, neither needing a certificate or Commissioner approval. (1) Youth minimum wage — a distinct lower rate for employees at least 14 but under 16, set at $13.50/hour as enacted (a fixed figure held through 2029, not the federal $4.25). (2) Training wage — an employer may pay a new hire at least 16 but under 20 (not a seasonal/migrant worker or emancipated minor) $13.50/hour for the first 90 days from hire; only a second 90-day period needs Commissioner-approved on-the-job training, and no more than one-fourth of the employer's total paid hours may be at the training rate. The training rate rises 1.5% a year from 2027, so confirm the current figure with the Nebraska DOL.
Nebraska's general minimum wage was lifted above the federal $7.25 by voter Initiative 433 (2022), which set $15.00 on January 1, 2026. LB 258 — passed by the 109th Legislature, signed by Gov. Pillen on February 9, 2026, and effective July 17, 2026 — then reshaped the structure: it replaced Initiative 433's CPI indexing of the general minimum with a fixed 1.75% annual increase from January 1, 2027; it created a separate youth minimum wage for 14- and 15-year-olds, set below the general minimum; and it rewrote the § 48-1203.01 training wage as a flat first-90-day rate for new hires aged 16 to 19. Because both the youth wage and the training wage are distinct state-set rates an ordinary first-job teen can actually be paid — not certificate-gated and not a mirror of the federal $4.25/90-day rule — Nebraska is subminimum-allowed even though its general minimum far exceeds $7.25. The youth and training dollar figures move on separate schedules (training +1.5%/yr from 2027; the youth wage holds until 2030, then +1.5% every five years), so always verify current rates with the Nebraska Department of Labor.
Rates change yearly. This page describes the legal structure, not the current dollar amount. State and federal minimum wages are adjusted regularly — always verify the live figure with your state Department of Labor or the U.S. DOL before relying on it.
See the federal youth minimum wage reference for the $4.25 90-day rule, student / learner certificates, the tipped cash wage, and how a higher state minimum wins.
Agricultural work carve-out
Nebraska largely mirrors the federal agricultural carve-out under FLSA § 213(c)(1). The rules below confirm what applies for farm work in this state.
Mirrors federal Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11.
Nebraska's Child Labor Act is largely silent on commercial agriculture — the only ag work specifically regulated at the state level is corn detasseling and beet-field operations. For all other farm work, the federal § 213(c) floor governs. Practical age tiers under Nebraska + federal: minors of any age may work at any time on a farm owned or operated by their parent (or person standing in place of a parent); 14- and 15-year-olds may work outside school hours in any non-hazardous agricultural occupation; 12- and 13-year-olds may work outside school hours in non-hazardous ag with written parental consent or on the same farm where a parent is employed; under-12 may work in non-hazardous ag with written parental consent only on farms not subject to the FLSA minimum-wage provision. Federal Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11 govern at 16+ off the family farm. No state employment certificate is required for agricultural work — the school-issued certificate for 14-15-year-olds applies to non-agricultural employment only.
See the federal agricultural-work reference for the FLSA § 213(c) baseline, parental-exemption rules, and the Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11 hazardous list.
Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 48-301 to 48-313 (Nebraska Child Labor Act; state regulates only detasseling and beet-field operations directly)
Family-business carve-out
Nebraska largely mirrors the federal parent-owned-business carve-out under FLSA § 213(c)(1)(C). The rules below confirm what applies when a minor works for a parent-owned business in this state.
Federal hazardous orders always apply — the parent-owned-business carve-out never reaches mining, manufacturing, or HO-listed work.
Nebraska's Child Labor Act carries the federal parent-employed exemption forward. The state's school-issued Employment Certificate (required for 14-15-year-olds in non-ag work) does not separately reach minors working in a parent-owned non-hazardous business — federal § 213(c)(1)(C) governs the parent-employed framework, and Nebraska does not impose state daily/weekly hour caps that would override the federal carve-out for parent-employed work. Nebraska's looser-than-federal 6:00 AM-10:00 PM time-of-day window for 14-15-year-olds and the 48-hour summer-week cap apply to general non-family-business employment. Federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17 always apply, and parent-owned manufacturing or mining employment for under-16 remains barred by federal law regardless of parent ownership. Verify the specific business context with the Nebraska Department of Labor before relying on the carve-out.
See the federal family-business reference for the FLSA § 213(c)(1)(C) baseline, ownership-structure rules, and the hazardous-occupations overlay that always applies.
Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 48-301 to 48-313 (Nebraska Child Labor Act — parent-employed exemption from Employment Certificate requirement); federal mirror of 29 USC § 213(c)(1)(C)
Entertainment-industry work
Nebraska does not separately regulate child performers (film, TV, theater, modeling). The general age-band hour caps and work-permit rules above apply to entertainment-industry work for minors. Federal FLSA carves out actors and performers from the general 14-year minimum age (29 CFR § 570.122), but neither federal nor Nebraska law imposes a blocked-trust requirement on a child performer’s earnings.
States with dedicated child-performer frameworks (Coogan-style trust accounts, on-set studio teachers, performer-specific permits) include California, New York, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
Where these rules come from
State code: Nebraska Revised Statutes §§ 48-301 to 48-313 (Employment of Children)
US DOL Wage & Hour Division: https://dol.nebraska.gov/LaborStandards/AboutUs/Laws
Last verified:
Informational only — verify with the Nebraska Department of Labor before hiring or starting work.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a 14-year-old work in Nebraska?
- Yes — under Nebraska law a 14-year-old can work up to 3 hours per school day, up to 18 hours per week, between 06:00 and 22:00. A Nebraska work permit is required.
- How many hours can a 15-year-old work during school in Nebraska?
- When school is in session, Nebraska allows a 15-year-old to work up to 3 hours per school day, up to 18 hours per week, between 06:00 and 22:00. During summer or school breaks the cap rises to up to 8 hours per school day, up to 48 hours per week, between 06:00 and 22:00.
- Does Nebraska require a work permit for minors?
- Yes — Nebraska requires a work permit for minors aged 14-15 (form: Nebraska Employment Certificate). Minors 14-15 obtain an Employment Certificate from their school superintendent. The minor presents a Statement of Intent to Employ from the employer plus proof of age. 16- and 17-year-olds do not need a state certificate.
- Does a minor get a meal break in Nebraska?
- Yes. Nebraska requires a 30-minute unpaid meal break once a worker reaches 8 consecutive hours; the rule applies to all employees, including minors. Federal law sets no break requirement at any age, so the state rule is the binding one. See the breaks section on this page for the exact age scope and the statute.
- Can a teen be paid less than minimum wage in Nebraska?
- Sometimes. Nebraska lets some teens, or inexperienced first-job and trainee workers, be paid below the standard state minimum wage without a special certificate. LB 258 (effective July 17, 2026) put two state subminimum paths below Nebraska's general minimum wage, neither needing a certificate or Commissioner approval. (1) Youth minimum wage — a distinct lower rate for employees at least 14 but under 16, set at $13.50/hour as enacted (a fixed figure held through 2029, not the federal $4.25). (2) Training wage — an employer may pay a new hire at least 16 but under 20 (not a seasonal/migrant worker or emancipated minor) $13.50/hour for the first 90 days from hire; only a second 90-day period needs Commissioner-approved on-the-job training, and no more than one-fourth of the employer's total paid hours may be at the training rate. The training rate rises 1.5% a year from 2027, so confirm the current figure with the Nebraska DOL. Minimum-wage dollar amounts change almost every year, so confirm the current figure with the Nebraska Department of Labor. See the Pay and minimum wage section on this page.
- What jobs can a minor not do in Nebraska?
- Nebraska prohibits minors from a number of hazardous occupations, including: all federal hazardous orders ho-1 through ho-17; operating power-driven meat-processing machines; roofing operations and work on or about a roof. The full list of federal hazardous orders (HO-1 through HO-17) also applies. See the Nebraska Revised Statutes §§ 48-301 to 48-313 (Employment of Children) citation on this page for the statutory source.