48-612. Employers; records and reports required; privileged communications; violation; penalty.

(1) Each employer, whether or not subject to the Employment Security Law, shall keep true and accurate work records containing such information as required by the Commissioner of Labor. Such records shall be open to inspection and be subject to being copied by the commissioner or his or her authorized representatives at any reasonable time and as often as may be necessary. The commissioner and a hearing officer may require from any such employer any sworn or unsworn reports, with respect to persons employed by it, deemed necessary for the effective administration of such law. Except as otherwise provided in section 48-612.01, information obtained pursuant to this section or obtained from any employer or individual pursuant to the administration of the Employment Security Law shall be held confidential.

(2) Any employee of the commissioner who violates any provision of sections 48-606 to 48-616 shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor.

(3) All letters, reports, communications, or any other matters, either oral or written, from an employer or his or her workers to each other or to the commissioner or any of his or her agents, representatives, or employees written or made in connection with the requirements and administration of the Employment Security Law, or the rules and regulations thereunder, shall be absolutely privileged. Any such letters, reports, communications, or other matters shall not be made the subject matter or basis for any suit for slander or libel in any court of this state, unless the same be false in fact and malicious in intent.

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Annotations

Information provided to the Department of Labor in connection with the requirements of the Employment Security Law is privileged and cannot be the basis for a libel suit unless the information is both false and malicious. Molt v. Lindsay Mfg. Co., 248 Neb. 81, 532 N.W.2d 11 (1995).