LB 829: A small victory for Nebraska's Agricultural Employers

This past session the Nebraska legislature passed LB 829 which impacts agricultural employers in the state of Nebraska. LB 829 was spearheaded by Senator Lathrop. Under Nebraska law, agricultural operations that employ fewer than ten unrelated, full-time employees are exempt from providing workers’ compensation coverage so long as they provide notice to their employees that they are exempt from the Act.

LB 829 clarifies that failure to provide notice that there is not workers’ compensation coverage will result in liability under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act for the affected employee only. Without this change, failure to provide notice to one single employee resulted in liability and inclusion under the Workers’ Compensation Act for all employees (even if the other employees were provided with notice).

Despite the passage of LB 829, the bottom line is that all Nebraska agricultural employers who hire fewer than ten unrelated full-time employees must ensure that each employee signs the required notice. Moreover, to further protect yourself, employers must keep a copy of the signed notice in the employee’s personnel file.

Although LB 829 is a rather small change, lets keep our fingers crossed that this is just the start to further legislation being passed to protect Nebraska’s agricultural producers.