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Nebraska Maternity Leave

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Does Nebraska have a separate maternity leave law?

Though Nebraska does not have a separate maternity leave law, it is one of the states that offers both prospective mothers, and fathers, federal FMLA leave.  The United States Department of Labor states that 39 out of 50 states have no short-term disability laws in force.  Neither do they have any significant “maternity leave” laws.  These 39 states simply rely on the FMLA, or federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, to provide leave for a variety of different family and medical situations.

Out of those 39 states, approximately 11 of them do have laws that extend the traditional FMLA time.  The extended laws either provide somewhat similar benefits to employees of municipal and state governments, or they are extended to include smaller companies.  Some states have laws requiring employers with as few as five employees to offer leave that is similar to FMLA.

FMLA provides workers with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year.  The Family and Medical Leave Act applies to employers who have more than 50 workers within 75 miles.  In order for employees to qualify for leave, they have to meet certain eligibility requirements, such as a certain number of hours worked within the previous year, and wages earned.

If employers offer benefits for other types of leave, such as medical or short-term disability, then the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) requires them to offer maternity leave benefits, as well.  If an employer does not offer benefits for other types of leave, then they are not required to offer maternity leave benefits.

The 11 states that do offer quite significant maternity or disability leave are Wisconsin, Washington, Vermont, Rhode Island, Oregon, New Jersey, Minnesota, Maine, Hawaii, Connecticut, and California. 

Five states have state-mandated short-term disability programs: Rhode Island, California, Hawaii, New York, and New Jersey.  In these five states, pregnant women, as well as new mothers, are entitled to payments that range from 50% to 67% of their average weekly income. JH