The city rule takes effect Oct. 1 and blocks new state exceptions that permit $13.50 wages for some teenagers and qualifying new employees ages 16 to 19.
By Hola Nebraska
Omaha, NE — Omaha will require covered employers to pay at least $15 an hour to young workers and some new employees beginning Oct. 1, unless a court blocks the city’s new minimum wage ordinance.
Mayor John Ewing Jr. signed Ordinance 44716 on July 21. The Omaha City Council approved it one week earlier in a 4-3 vote.
The measure does not create a general raise for every worker in Omaha. Nebraska’s standard minimum wage has already been $15 an hour since Jan. 1.
The local change applies primarily to workers who became eligible for lower rates when new provisions of Nebraska law took effect July 18.
Omaha’s $15 wage takes effect Oct. 1
Omaha’s ordinance establishes a $15 minimum wage from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026. It generally covers employers with four or more employees working within the city’s geographic boundaries.
The city rate will apply regardless of a covered worker’s age. It also leaves out the separate $13.50 training wage that state law permits for certain new employees younger than 20.
Most employees covered by Nebraska’s minimum wage law are already entitled to $15 per hour. For those workers, the Omaha ordinance does not change their current wage floor.
Related: Minimum wage increases reached Nebraska and dozens of U.S. cities in 2026
Nebraska allows lower wages for two groups
Nebraska’s revised Wage and Hour Act allows employers to pay a youth minimum wage of $13.50 per hour to workers who are 14 or 15 years old and are not emancipated minors.
State law also permits a $13.50 training wage for a new employee who is at least 16 but younger than 20. The employee cannot be a seasonal worker, migrant worker or emancipated minor.
That training rate can apply during the first 90 days after hiring. State law allows an additional 90 days when the employee participates in qualifying on-the-job training approved by the Nebraska Commissioner of Labor.
Those two groups would instead receive the standard $15 minimum while working for an employer covered by Omaha’s ordinance.
Some separate wage rules remain in Omaha
The ordinance does not require every employee to receive $15 directly from an employer.
Tipped employees may still receive a cash wage of $2.13 per hour. Their direct wages and tips must combine to equal or exceed the applicable minimum wage.
Student-learners participating in a bona fide vocational training program may receive at least 75% of the otherwise applicable minimum. Other employment categories excluded from Nebraska’s Wage and Hour Act also remain outside the city requirement.
The full text of Omaha Ordinance 44716 includes the coverage rules, special wage provisions and enforcement process.
A court could delay or block the Omaha ordinance
Omaha’s wage measure could face the same legal challenge already brought against a similar ordinance in Lincoln.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers sued Lincoln in June. His office argues that minimum-wage policy is a statewide concern and that cities cannot replace rates established by the Nebraska Legislature.
A Lancaster County judge temporarily blocked Lincoln from enforcing its ordinance on July 17 while the lawsuit proceeds. The order did not resolve the underlying dispute over whether the city has authority to set its own rate.
Omaha officials rely on the city’s home rule authority. Ewing acknowledged the legal uncertainty when he signed the measure and said he believed the city could defend its minimum wage ordinance.
The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office had not publicly announced a lawsuit against Omaha as of July 29.
Omaha and Nebraska use different formulas for 2027
The disagreement could also affect wage increases after 2026.
Nebraska law will raise the statewide minimum by 1.75% each Jan. 1. Omaha’s ordinance instead uses changes in the Midwest Consumer Price Index and rounds the result to the nearest five cents.
The city’s finance director is scheduled to publish Omaha’s 2027 rate by Oct. 15. The $15 requirement for young workers and qualifying new employees is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 unless it is delayed or blocked in court.
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