Staffing agency license in Nebraska: repealed in 2020, health care staffing next

Nebraska licensed private employment agencies through the Department of Labor for decades, then dropped the program in 2020. Legislative Bill 1016, a broad labor bill, listed among its purposes "to eliminate provisions related to ... private employment agencies" and outright repealed the sections that made up the licensing law. What Nebraska regulates today is professional employer organizations, which register with the Department of Labor, and, from July 1, 2027, health care staffing agencies, under a new registration act passed in April 2026.

This page covers the 2020 repeal, PEO registration, the coming health care staffing rules and the employer accounts every Nebraska staffing firm needs. For other states, see employment agency license requirements.

The 2020 repeal

LB 1016, introduced by Senator M. Hansen, was approved by the Governor on July 24, 2020. Section 12 outright repealed sections 48-501.01, 48-503 to 48-508, 48-510 to 48-521, 48-523 and 48-524, the bulk of the private employment agency article, along with unrelated provisions on service letters and high voltage lines. Section 48-503 had required a license from the Commissioner of Labor to open, operate or maintain a private employment agency.

The bill carried an emergency clause, and the repeal sections were not among those given a later operative date, so the repeal took effect when the bill was approved. On the Legislature's statute site, each repealed section now reads "Repealed. Laws 2020, LB1016, § 12."

Before the repeal, the license was an annual one. The 2012 text of § 48-503, as reproduced in published compilations, set a license fee of $150 a year, payable in advance on May 1, with every license expiring on April 30. A 2020 survey of state licensing laws compiled by South Carolina's Secretary of State also listed Nebraska's application fee as $150 a year. Those figures are history now, but they explain why older vendor-compliance checklists still list a Nebraska license.

What the repeal means in practice:

• No license, bond or fee schedule filing for direct-hire agencies, executive search, or temporary staffing, whoever pays the fee.
• Old licenses lapse. If a client's vendor form asks for a Nebraska employment agency license number, answer that the requirement was repealed by LB 1016 in 2020.
• Candidate-paid fees are no longer subject to the old statutory regime, so contract terms and general consumer protection law carry the weight. Keep any fee to a candidate in a clear written agreement, or charge only employers.

What applies, by business model

PEO registration with the Department of Labor

The Professional Employer Organization Registration Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-2701 et seq., requires PEOs to register with the Nebraska Department of Labor's Labor Standards office. The department's PEO registration form, which cites § 48-2704, sets out the fees:

The form asks for operating names and jurisdictions for the past five years, predecessor and successor entities, ownership and management, and financial information. Limited registration is the lighter route for out-of-state PEOs with a small Nebraska footprint; read the form's instructions for which sections it lets you skip.

A staffing firm that employs its own temps and places them on assignments is not running a PEO. A firm that takes over a client's existing workforce under a long-term co-employment agreement is.

Health care staffing: registration from July 1, 2027

LB 921, approved on April 14, 2026, created the Health Care Staffing Agency Registration Act in its sections 7 to 15, which become operative on July 1, 2027. The act defines a health care staffing agency as a business that "provides one or more temporary workers to provide direct services in a separate, third-party health care entity," and expressly includes health care technology platforms, the apps through which workers bid on open shifts. "Direct services" means nursing or other person-to-person services to consumers, and excludes physicians and nurse practitioners.

The definition turns on temporary workers providing direct services. A search firm that places a nurse directly onto a hospital's payroll for a one-time fee is not supplying a temporary worker, and a firm staffing a hospital's billing office is not supplying direct services, so neither appears to fall within the act. A firm that sends travel or per diem nurses, nursing assistants or other hands-on staff does, whether it employs them or connects them through an app.

Registration

• Register annually with the Department of Labor, certifying compliance with the act's contract rules.
• Pay $1,500 per physical location in Nebraska, or a single $1,500 statewide registration if the agency has no Nebraska location.
• Apply for renewal at least 60 days before the current registration expires.
• Denials can be appealed to the Commissioner of Labor within 20 days.

Operating duties

• Make sure each worker meets federal and state licensing, certification, registration and health requirements, and document it. Unless the contract says otherwise, the agency is not responsible for the facility's own organization-specific requirements.
• Keep worker records and handle reports to regulators that would fall on the facility if it employed the worker directly.
• Maintain, or require each worker to maintain, professional and general liability coverage of at least $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate.
• Give the department proof of workers' compensation, self-insurance approval, a signed statement that coverage is not required, or occupational accident coverage.
• If the agency stops operating, notify the department and keep records for two years.

Noncompetes and conversion fees

Section 11 bars a noncompete clause in any contract with a worker or facility, and bars requiring liquidated damages, employment fees or other compensation if the worker is later hired permanently by the facility. There are two exceptions: payments made solely by the facility under a contract that reduces the amount pro rata for each hour the worker serves on the agency's payroll, reaching zero by no more than 720 hours; and payments by a foreign worker the agency helped obtain work authorization, assigned to one facility for at least 24 months. A clause that breaks the section is void. See temp-to-perm conversion fee for how a declining fee is usually drafted.

Penalties under section 12 are up to $500 for a first offense and $5,000 for each later offense, and revocation for up to a calendar year across all locations. If your health care contracts renew before July 2027, draft the new terms to the act now.

Employer accounts every Nebraska staffing firm needs

• Unemployment insurance with the Nebraska Department of Labor; the staffing firm is the employer of record for its temps.
• Workers' compensation under the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act. See staffing agency insurance requirements.
• Withholding with the Department of Revenue, and Secretary of State registration for out-of-state entities.
• E-Verify. Nebraska has its own E-Verify rules for certain employers; see E-Verify requirements in Nebraska.

Nebraska's neighbors differ: Iowa licenses agencies that charge workers and already registers health care staffing (see staffing agency license in Iowa), and Kansas keeps a $25 license for job-seeker-paid agencies (see staffing agency license in Kansas).

A Nebraska checklist

NEBRASKA CHECK — [date] — owner: [name]

Model:
  [ ] Direct hire / search / temp: no state agency license
      (repealed by LB 1016, 2020)
  [ ] Co-employment of client workforce: PEO registration
      ($2,500 initial / $1,500 renewal; limited $1,000)

Health care facilities (act operative July 1, 2027):
  [ ] Registration filed by July 1, 2027 ($1,500 per location)
  [ ] Contracts: no noncompetes; conversion fees only if they
      decline pro rata to zero by 720 hours
  [ ] $1M/$3M liability; workers' comp proof to department

Employer accounts:
  NDOL UI account; workers' comp; withholding; E-Verify  [ ]
Next review: [date]

Re-check in early 2027, when the Department of Labor should publish forms for the new registration, and again if you start co-employing a client's staff.