Nebraska does not have its own state overtime statute, and it does not require daily overtime. There is no Nebraska law that pays a premium for working more than 8 hours in a single day. Instead, overtime for Nebraska workers is governed entirely by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires time-and-a-half (1.5 times your regular rate) only for hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. So if you work four 11-hour days (44 hours) you are owed overtime on the 4 hours over 40 - but if you work three 13-hour days (39 hours), you get no overtime at all, no matter how long any individual day ran.
The 40-Hour Weekly Rule Is the Only Overtime Trigger in Nebraska
Some states (notably California, Alaska, Colorado, and Nevada) layer a daily-overtime requirement on top of the federal weekly rule, so workers there earn overtime after a set number of hours in one day. Nebraska is not one of them. Nebraska's wage laws - the Nebraska Wage and Hour Act and the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act - address minimum wage and the timely payment of wages, but they contain no overtime premium of their own. Because Nebraska defers to the FLSA, the federal standard is the standard.
Under the FLSA, the rules that matter in Nebraska are:
- Overtime threshold: Hours over 40 in a single, fixed workweek (a recurring 168-hour, 7-day period your employer designates).
- Overtime rate: At least 1.5 times your regular rate of pay, which includes most nondiscretionary bonuses and shift differentials - not just your base hourly wage.
- No averaging across weeks: Each workweek stands alone. An employer cannot average a 50-hour week and a 30-hour week to avoid paying overtime, even if they fall in the same pay period.
- No daily premium: Long single shifts do not trigger overtime unless the weekly total exceeds 40.
The Regular Rate: Why Your Overtime May Be More Than 1.5x Your Hourly Wage
A common underpayment in Nebraska happens when employers calculate overtime on the base hourly wage only. The FLSA requires the "regular rate" to include nearly all forms of compensation for the week - production bonuses, attendance bonuses, commissions, and shift differentials - divided across all hours worked. If you earn $18 an hour plus a $100 weekly production bonus, your regular rate is higher than $18, and your overtime rate must be calculated on that higher figure. Only specific payments (such as discretionary bonuses, gifts, and reimbursed expenses) may be excluded.
Minimum Wage in Nebraska (the Other Half of Wage Law)
Overtime is built on your regular rate, which can never fall below the minimum wage. Nebraska voters passed Initiative 433 in 2022, scheduling annual increases that pushed the state minimum wage above the federal floor and then index it to the cost of living. As of 2026, Nebraska's minimum wage is well above the federal FLSA minimum of $7.25 per hour, which has not changed since 2009. Because Nebraska's rate steps up on a schedule and is now adjusted for inflation, confirm the current figure with the Nebraska Department of Labor before relying on a specific number - it changes at the start of the year. Tipped employees have a lower cash wage with a tip credit, but tips plus cash wage must reach the full minimum.
Who Is Exempt From Overtime in Nebraska
Because Nebraska uses the federal framework, the FLSA's "white-collar" exemptions apply. An employee is generally exempt from overtime only if they meet both a salary test and a duties test:
- Executive: Manages the business or a department, directs the work of two or more full-time employees, and has authority over hiring and firing.
- Administrative: Performs office or non-manual work directly related to management or general business operations, exercising independent judgment on significant matters.
- Professional: Work requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning (typically an advanced degree), or recognized creative work.
- Outside sales and certain computer professionals: Have their own specific tests.
Key point: a job title or a salary alone does not make someone exempt. Many salaried Nebraska workers are still entitled to overtime because their actual duties do not meet the test. The FLSA also recognizes exemptions and special rules for certain agricultural workers, some transportation employees covered by the Motor Carrier Act, and others - categories that matter in Nebraska's farming and trucking economy. If you are unsure whether you are exempt, the duties you actually perform control, not what your employer calls you.