Answer
Nebraska finished Initiative 433 at $15.00 on January 1, 2026. What follows is not CPI: LB258 locked in a fixed 1.75% increase every January 1 beginning in 2027 — unusually easy to model into a five-year price.
- $15.00/hr statewide (Jan 1, 2026) for employers with 4+ employees; below that, federal $7.25 applies.
- Fixed 1.75% annual increases begin January 1, 2027 under LB258 — not a CPI escalator.
- State law preempts local minimum wages; Omaha and Lincoln cannot set a higher floor.
$15.00/hr Nebraska minimum wage (2026)
Nebraska Wage & Hour Rules for Cleaning Workers
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Nebraska Minimum Wage for Cleaning Workers (2026)
Nebraska reached $15.00 an hour on January 1, 2026, the final step of the schedule voters approved as Initiative 433 in 2022. What follows is not a CPI escalator: LB258 replaced it with a fixed 1.75% increase every January 1 beginning in 2027, which makes Nebraska's wage line unusually easy to model out five years. State law preempts local minimums, and the state act covers employers with four or more employees — below that, the federal $7.25 governs.
The steep part of the climb is behind you — the $13.50-to-$15.00 jump landed on January 1, 2026. What matters now is the shape of what follows: LB258 replaced the CPI escalator with a flat 1.75% increase every January from 2027, which is a smaller and far more predictable number to build into a multi-year price.
| Year | Minimum Wage | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $10.50/hr | +$2.75 from $7.75 | dol.nebraska.gov |
| 2024 | $12.00/hr | +$1.50 | dol.nebraska.gov |
| 2025 | $13.50/hr | +$1.50 | dol.nebraska.gov |
| 2026 | $15.00/hr | +$1.50 (scheduled) | dol.nebraska.gov |
| 2027+ | CPI-indexed | Annual adjustment to CPI | dol.nebraska.gov |
Nebraska Overtime Rules
Nebraska follows federal FLSA overtime standards:
- Weekly overtime: Time-and-a-half for all hours over 40 in a workweek
- No daily overtime requirement
- Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. §48-1228 et seq.) does not add overtime obligations beyond FLSA
Meal and Rest Break Requirements
Nebraska has no state law mandating meal or rest breaks for adult employees. FLSA applies. Youth workers under 16: limited hours per Nebraska child labor law (Neb. Rev. Stat. §48-302 et seq.).
Pay Frequency Requirements
Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. §48-1230) requires:
- Wages paid at intervals not exceeding 31 days
- Final wages after involuntary termination: due by the next regular payday
- Written notice of payday schedule required at time of hire
Workers' Compensation in Nebraska
Administered by the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court:
- Required for employers with 1 or more employees (Neb. Rev. Stat. §48-106 — no minimum headcount)
- NCCI Class Code 9014 (Janitors) applies
- Estimated rates: $3.00–$5.50 per $100 payroll
Prevailing Wage
Nebraska has a prevailing wage law (Nebraska Revised Statutes §73-101 et seq.) covering public works construction. Cleaning service contracts on public buildings are not typically subject to the prevailing wage construction framework but may be subject to federal SCA for federally funded contracts. Verify with the contracting agency.
Right-to-Work Status
Nebraska is a right-to-work state (Nebraska Constitution Art. XV, Sec. 13). Union density in Nebraska cleaning is low.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I structure multi-year cleaning contracts around Nebraska's wage schedule?
Tie renewals to the statutory formula rather than to inflation. The $15.00 rate is already in effect, so catch-up is no longer the issue; escalation is. LB258 replaced the CPI mechanism with a fixed 1.75 percent increase each January 1 beginning in 2027, which is a known number you can write directly into a contract escalator. Add a separate buffer for workers' compensation and unemployment insurance, which move on their own schedule and not with the wage.
Does Nebraska's minimum wage still adjust with inflation?
No longer in the way Initiative 433 originally set up. The CPI-indexed mechanism approved by voters was replaced by LB258, which substitutes a fixed 1.75 percent annual increase starting in 2027. That is a smaller and more predictable step than CPI indexing would produce in an inflationary year. Confirm the current published rate with the Nebraska Department of Labor each January rather than calculating it yourself.
Does Nebraska require a license to run a commercial cleaning company?
No statewide cleaning license exists. Register with the Nebraska Secretary of State, obtain a federal EIN, and set up income tax withholding with the Department of Revenue. Omaha and Lincoln both have local business registration requirements, so if your accounts are in either city, handle that layer separately rather than assuming the state filing is sufficient.
What drives cleaning labor costs in Omaha and Lincoln beyond the minimum wage?
Competition from distribution, food processing, and the insurance and financial back-office employers concentrated in Omaha, all drawing from the same worker pool on overlapping shift patterns. The statutory $15.00 is a floor that the market has largely already cleared for reliable overnight labor. Build bids off the wage you actually need to pay to retain a crew, and treat turnover cost as a line item, because replacing a trained tech on a nightly account costs more than the raise that would have kept them.
How we built this guide
Opora editorial sources from BLS OEWS wage tables, ISSA-447 production rates, NCCI workers' compensation classifications, EPA List N, OSHA 29 CFR standards, and primary state regulatory filings. We don't recycle blog posts — we audit primary documents.
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