The Nebraska farm labor laws are found in R.R.S. Neb. §§ 48-515 through 48-516, and R.R.S. Neb. §§ 48-1701 through 48-1714.  The statutes provide that no foreign labor agent, labor bureau or labor agency or other person or corporation domiciled in any other state or territory of the United States shall enter this state and attempt to hire, entice, or solicit or take from this state any common or agricultural workers, singly or in groups, for any purpose without first applying to the Commissioner of Labor for a license as a private employment agency[i].

R.R.S. Neb. § 48-516 provides that any labor agent hiring, enticing or soliciting common or agricultural workers in this state for employment beyond this state, shall make monthly reports to the commissioner on the first day of each month covering the preceding month correctly showing the name and address of every representative, subagent, contractor, recruiter or solicitor engaged in any part of the work of that agency connected with the hiring, enticing or soliciting of common or agricultural workers in this state to be employed beyond the limits of this state, and correctly showing:

(1) The name, age, sex, and address of each person solicited to be employed beyond the limits of this state;

(2) The name and address of the employer of every such person;

(3) The place where every such person is to be employed;

(4) The kind of work every such person is employed to do;

(5) The term of employment of every such person;

(6) The wages to be paid to every such person for his work; and

(7) Whether or not transportation is to be furnished, arranged for, or paid for any such common laborer or agricultural worker either leaving or returning to this state.

Pursuant to R.R.S. Neb. § 48-1704, the commissioner shall cancel the license of every agent or private employment agency who or which fails to make and file such reports on or before the tenth day of each month for the preceding month in accordance with the cancellation provisions provided in section 48-505.  Except as otherwise provided by the Farm Labor Contractors Act, no person shall act as a farm labor contractor and engage in farm labor contracting activity unless such person holds a valid license issued by the department.  Farm labor contractor licenses may be issued by the department only as follows:

(a) To an individual operating as a sole proprietor under the person’s own name or under an assumed business name registered with the state;

(b) To two or more individuals operating as a partnership under their own names or under an assumed business name registered with the state; and

(c) To a corporation, limited liability company, or cooperative association authorized to do business in Nebraska.

An application for a license as a farm labor contractor shall be sworn to by the applicant and shall be written on a form prescribed by the department. The form shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) The applicant’s name and Nebraska address, all other temporary and permanent addresses the applicant uses or knows will be used in the future, and, if the applicant is an individual, the applicant’s social security number;

(b) Information on all motor vehicles to be used by the applicant in operations as a farm labor contractor, including the license number and state of licensure, the vehicle number, and the name and address of the vehicle owner for all vehicles used for farm labor contracting activity;

(c) Whether or not the applicant was ever denied a license under the Farm Labor Contractors Act or in any other jurisdiction under a similar law or had such a license revoked or suspended; and

(d) The names and addresses of all persons financially interested, whether as partners, limited liability company members, shareholders, associates, or profit sharers in the applicant’s proposed operations as a farm labor contractor, together with the amount of their respective interests, and whether or not, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, any of such persons was ever denied a license under the act or in any other jurisdiction or had such a license revoked or suspended.

A farm labor contractor shall:

(1) Carry his or her farm labor contractor license at all times and exhibit such license upon request to any person with whom the contractor intends to deal in his or her capacity as a farm labor contractor;

(2) File immediately at the United States post office serving the farm labor contractor’s address as noted on the license a correct change of address and notify the department each time an address change is made;

(3) Pay or distribute promptly when due to the individuals entitled all money or other things of value entrusted to the farm labor contractor by any person for that purpose;

(4) Comply with the terms and provisions of all legal and valid agreements or contracts entered into by the farm labor contractor;

(5) Comply with all state laws, rules, and regulations relevant to the activity as a farm labor contractor;

(6) Furnish to each worker at the time of hiring, recruiting, soliciting, or supplying such worker, whichever occurs first, a written statement in both English and Spanish which contains a description of:

(a) The method of computing the rate of compensation and the rate of compensation;

(b) The terms and conditions of any bonus offered and the manner of determining when the bonus is earned;

(c) The terms and conditions of any loan made to the worker;

(d) The conditions of any housing and health and day care to be provided;

(e) The terms and conditions of employment, including the approximate length of season or period of employment and the approximate starting and ending dates;

(f) The terms and conditions under which the worker is furnished clothing or equipment;

(g) The name and address of the owner of all operations where the worker will be working; and

(h) The worker’s rights and remedies in plain and simple language in a form specified by the department;

(7) Furnish to the worker each time the worker receives a compensation payment from the farm labor contractor a written statement itemizing the total payment, the amount and purpose of each deduction therefrom, the hours worked, and, if the work is done on a piece basis, the number of pieces completed; and

(8) Provide a bilingual employee who shall be available at the worksite for each shift a non-English-speaking worker is employed if the farm labor contractor has a workforce of ten or more non-English-speaking workers who speak the same non-English language. T he bilingual employee shall be conversant in the non-English language spoken by such workers[ii].

Pursuant to R.R.S. Neb. § 48-1712, a farm labor contractor or an applicant for a farm labor contractor license shall not:

(1) Make any misrepresentation, false statement, or willful concealment in the application for a license or in his or her dealing with workers;

(2) Solicit or induce or cause to be solicited or induced the violation of an existing contract of employment;

(3) Assist a person to act in violation of the Farm Labor Contractors Act; and

(4) By any force, intimidation, or threat, including threat of deportation, induce any worker employed or in a subcontracting relationship to the farm labor contractor to give up any part of the compensation to which the worker is entitled under the contract of employment or under federal or state wage laws.

[i] R.R.S. Neb. § 48-515.

[ii] R.R.S. Neb. § 48-1711.