What was the Nebraska Supreme Court case Roseland v. Strategic Staff Management about?

Answer 1

The legislation is designed to address the Nebraska Supreme Court ruling in Roseland v. Strategic Staff Management, a case in which the court ruled that unused, earned vacation time must be paid as wages to workers at the time of their termination. The Supreme Court decision raised concerns regarding whether sick leave is also defined as a fringe benefit, and thus payable upon termination of an employee. In the wake of the Roselanddecision, many employers have questioned whether they are required to pay terminated employees for unused sick leave. Similar concerns exist regarding these policies that combine vacation time and sick leave -- so-called "paid time off," or PTO. In fact, employees in both private and public settings have filed lawsuits subsequent to the Roseland ruling seeking compensation for unused sick leave. The traditional understanding has been that sick leave is a conditional benefit, available for use only if an employee is sick. In the absence of clarification of the Roseland ruling, employers may elect to reduce or eliminate benefits for sick leave or paid time off plans. Amendments adopted by the Business and Labor Committee would exclude paid leave, other than earned but unused vacation leave, which is provided as a fringe benefit by the employer from wages due and payable at the time of separation of employment, unless the employer and the employee have specifically agreed otherwise.

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