Nebraska technical recruiting and hiring rules
Nebraska's cleared market is Omaha and Bellevue, where Offutt Air Force Base is the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command and home to the 55th Wing and the 557th Weather Wing, the National Strategic Research Institute is a Department of Defense university affiliated research center sponsored by Strategic Command, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha hosts a Department of Homeland Security center of excellence on counterterrorism.
Union Pacific, Berkshire Hathaway and the Google and Meta data centers in Sarpy County supply the commercial side. Requisitions run from Secret to TS/SCI.
Nebraska regulates little at the posting stage. The rules below are current at the time of writing, each with its source.
Hiring rules in Nebraska that matter to employers
Summaries are general information current at the time of writing and are no substitute for counsel.
- Pay transparency in job postings
- Nebraska has no pay transparency law applicable to private employers and no statutory right to salary range information in postings. Nebraska Revised Statute 48-1114 does make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee for inquiring about, discussing or disclosing wages, benefits or other compensation, subject to limits on disclosure during working hours or to the general public.
- Salary history
- Nebraska does not restrict an employer from asking about or relying on an applicant's salary history.
- Fair-chance hiring
- Nebraska Revised Statute 48-202, enacted in 2014, provides that a public employer shall not ask an applicant to disclose information concerning the applicant's criminal record or history until the employer has determined that the applicant meets the minimum employment qualifications, with exceptions for law enforcement agencies and positions where a criminal history check is required or certain convictions disqualify. No rule applies to private employers.
- Non-compete agreements
- Nebraska has no statute on employee non-competes. Law firm summaries of the Nebraska Supreme Court's decisions state that a non-compete must be limited to non-solicitation of customers with whom the employee had personal contact and did business, that the courts enforce only reasonable restraints, and that they do not modify or blue-pencil an overbroad covenant, citing Gaver versus Schneider's O.K. Tire Co. (2014).
- At-will employment
- The Nebraska Department of Labor's frequently asked questions state that Nebraska is an employment-at-will state, meaning the employer and the employee have equal rights to terminate employment at any time for any reason as long as no other law is violated.
- E-Verify
- Nebraska Revised Statute 4-114 requires every public employer and public contractor to register with and use a federal immigration verification system for new employees performing services in the state, and requires every contract between a public employer and a public contractor to include that obligation.
Metro markets in Nebraska
Nebraska's metro page covers Omaha and Bellevue.
Industries hiring in Nebraska
Specialties in demand in Nebraska
Questions about hiring in Nebraska
Will a Nebraska court narrow an overbroad non-compete?
According to law firm summaries of the Nebraska Supreme Court's decisions, no: the courts do not modify or blue-pencil an overbroad restriction, so a covenant drafted wider than a non-solicitation of customers the employee dealt with personally is likely to fail entirely. Employers should take advice before relying on one.
What clearance levels do Omaha requisitions carry?
Secret for most engineering and IT support around Offutt, and Top Secret or TS/SCI for the command, intelligence and weather wing programs. The Omaha page names the organizations that shape the market.