Since 2022 New Mexico employers have needed to ensure compliance with New Mexico Paid Sick Leave Laws. Required paid sick leave may come as unfamiliar territory to many New Mexico employers, being that it was a completely new law to the state.
For businesses struggling to understand sick leave legislation and compliance, this guide will help employers navigate the complexities of this New Mexico Labor Law and put a New Mexico Sick Leave Policy in place.
On April 7th, 2021, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed New Mexico House Bill 20, otherwise known as the Healthy Workplaces Act (HWA). The act outlines new requirements for paid sick leave in the state of New Mexico, effective July 1st, 2022.
When it comes to managing employee sick leave, employers should want to learn more about what is time and attendance software, and how it can help businesses manage employee leave.
The Healthy Workplaces Act (HWA) applies to all private employers in the state of New Mexico with one or more employees. It provides requirements and rules for paid sick leave as well as penalties for non-compliance.
The intent of the new sick leave law is to better regulate employee benefits in the state of New Mexico, specifically regarding sick leave. The goal of the law is to help workers throughout New Mexico address their own health and safety needs, as well as that of eligible family members, without having to deal with lost wages and compensation.
The state government also hopes that the worker turnover rate for New Mexico will improve by creating and enforcing paid sick leave requirements for private employers.
According to the Healthy Workplaces Act, all full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary workers are entitled to New Mexico paid sick leave.
Under the Healthy Workplaces Act, employees begin to accrue sick leave upon the first day of employment (or July 1st, 2022). Employees shall accrue a minimum of one hour earned sick leave for every 30 hours worked, provided employers don’t choose to offer a higher accrual rate.
Employees can accrue and use up to a minimum of 64 hours of paid sick leave in a given 12-month period, provided that employers don’t choose to offer a higher limit.
Any employees who are classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will be assumed to work 40 hours a week for the purposes of sick leave accrual. However, if an exempt employee’s normal workweek is less than 40 hours, then employers should use that number for the purpose of sick leave accrual.
Alternatively, employers may choose to grant employees the full 64 hours of sick leave for the coming year, on January 1st of that year.
Note: Employers are required to allow employees to carry over any unused paid sick leave, however, employers are not required to allow employees to use more than the specified limit in any given 12-month period.
Employees shall be compensated at the same hourly rate and with the same benefits for any taken sick leave, as they would for any hours worked.
Employees can start using accrued sick leave on July 1st, 2022. After which, employees can use any earned sick leave as it is accrued from the start of employment.
New Mexico employees may use any accrued paid sick leave for:
In regards to New Mexico sick leave, a family member is defined as:
Employers may not require employees to provide any form of proof for paid sick leave unless the employee requests two or more consecutive days of leave.
Reasonable forms of documentation that an employer may ask for include:
It is important that employees provide documentation in a timely manner, however, employers may not delay the use of sick leave due to not receiving documentation.
Employers are required to authorize the use of paid sick leave upon written or oral request from the employee.
Employers should clarify their sick leave policy and expectations of employees when taking sick time in an employee handbook.
It should be clear, employees need to make a “good-faith effort” to provide advanced notice of any foreseeable sick leave, as well as schedule the leave to be as least disruptive as possible to business operations. If leave is not foreseeable, the employee needs to notify the employer as soon as practical.
Employees may use sick leave in any time increment that the employer’s payroll system or software will allow for. For instance, an employee may use sick leave for 4 hours of leave as opposed to a full day.
In addition to understanding the basic components of the Healthy Workplaces Act, employers need to understand what is expected of them in regard to the new legislation.
Generally, employers are prohibited from:
It is also important that employers understand how to classify employees, as misclassification of an employee as an independent contractor is a violation of the Healthy Workplaces Act.
Any employer with a pre-existing paid sick leave policy that meets the accrual requirements of the Healthy Workplaces Act may be used for the same purposes and reasons as specified by the act.
Important to note for employers, however, is that the sick leave must be in addition to any other leave that may be used for reasons and purposes other than specified by this act.
According to the Healthy Workplaces Act, employers are not required to compensate any employees for unused, accrued sick leave upon termination of employment, a resignation, retirement, or other forms of separation of employment.
Important to note, however, is that any employees who are rehired by the same employer within 12 months of separation are entitled to their previously accrued earned sick leave that was not used prior to separation. The employee can also begin to use and accrue sick leave upon reinstatement.
Employees who are transferred to a new place of work but are still employed by the same employer, do not lose any accrued sick leave, nor do they stop accruing, or have to wait to use any sick leave.
Employers are required to keep records documenting all hours worked by employees for the last 48 months. Employers must also keep records of all sick leave taken by employees in that same time period.
According to the Healthy Workplaces Act, employers are required to provide written or electronic notice, upon hiring an employee, of the employee’s:
Employers are also required to display a labor law poster with the required information regarding the Healthy Workplaces Act in a conspicuous and accessible area in each place of employment. It is recommended that employers use a labor law poster subscription service, as this is an inexpensive and simple way to manage compliance with federal and state posting requirements.
Any employer that violates any of the rules and regulations under the Healthy Workplaces Act shall be liable to the offended employee.
Violations can include:
Employers who are struggling with New Mexico paid sick leave, or are unsure of where to start with creating a New Mexico sick leave policy may want to contact a New Mexico HR and payroll company for assistance.
Businesses that struggle with maintaining productivity when employees take time off under New Mexico Sick Leave, may want to consider employee scheduling software as a solution. So that when employees take time off under the law, you can ensure your schedule accounts for it.
Andrew Siegel is the CEO and Founder of Payday HCM, a New Mexico payroll services company serving small and large firms with single-point-of-contact solutions for payroll, employee benefits, outsourced HR, and staffing. An expert in the HCM industry and accomplished author of Employee Engagement: The Path Payday HCM Path to Productivity and Profitability, Andrew has almost 40 years of experience helping countless businesses across the country manage their biggest asset: their emploEyees.