New Mexico Healthy Workplaces Act

At-A-Glance 

April 7, 2021, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law the Healthy Workplaces Act. Private employers within the state of New Mexico will be required to provide paid sick leave (PSL) to their employees beginning July 1, 2022.  

• Employers must provide 1 hour of paid sick leave per every30 hours worked. 
• All accrued, unused paid sick leave hours are to be carried over into the new 12-month benefit year. 
• Employers must provide written notice to employees, upon commencement of employment, with paid sick leave requirements.

Eligibility 

The Healthy Workplaces Act requires private employers within the State of New Mexico to provide paid sick leave to their eligible employees. Eligible employees must work at least 80 hours within a 12-month period and includes full-time, part-time, and temporary employees. 

Accrual 

Employees of an employer with fewer than 10 employees shall accrue at a minimum of one hour of earned sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Eligible employees are not entitled to use more than 40 hours of earned sick leave per twelve-month period unless the employer selects a higher limit. 

Employees of an employer with 10 or more employees shall accrue a minimum of one hour of earned sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Eligible employees are not entitled to use more than 64 hours of earned sick leave per twelve-month period unless the employer selects a higher limit. 

Employees who are exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act will be presumed to work 40 hours per week for purposes of earned sick leave accrual unless their normal workweek is less than 40 hours, in which case earned sick leave will accrue based on their normal workweek. 

Employees shall begin accruing PSL on July 1, 2022, or once employment commences. Employers are not required to allow the use of PSL until after 30 days of accrual.  Accrued and unused paid sick is leave is required to be carried over into the new 12-month benefit year. Earned sick leave may be used in the smaller of hourly increments or the smallest increment that the employer's payroll system uses to account for absences or use of other time. 

Acceptable Use 

Eligible employees may use accrued paid sick leave for any of the following reasons; 

• Mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of the employee or family member; 
• Medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to an employee's or family member's illness, injury, or condition;  
• Preventive medicalcare;  
• For meetings at the employee's child's school or place of care related to the child's health or disability; 
• For closure of the employee's place of business by order of a public official due to a public health emergency; for an employee's need to care for a child whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency; or when it has been determined by the health authorities having jurisdiction or by a health care professional that the employee's or employee's family member's presence in the community would jeopardize the health of others because of the employee's or family member's exposure to a communicable disease, whether or not the employee or family member has actually contracted the communicable disease; or
• For absence necessary due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking suffered by the employee or a family member of the employee; provided that the leave is for the employee to:  
• Obtain medical or psychological treatment or other counseling;  
• Relocate; or
• Prepare for or participate in legal proceedings.

A “family member” for the purposes of this ordinance, includes an employee’s immediate family member (a person related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption), a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis, a person who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a minor, and a person for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety-related care. 

More Generous PTO 

An employer with an earned sick leave policy that provides sick leave separate from other forms of paid time off, and who makes available an amount of earned sick leave sufficient to meet the accrual requirements of the Healthy Workplaces Act that may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as earned sick leave under that act, is not required to provide additional earned sick leave.  

However, the sick leave required by the Healthy Workplaces Act is in addition to any paid time off provided by an employer that may be used for any purpose other than those specified in that act. 

Notice and Recordkeeping Requirements 

An employer must give written notice to an employee at the commencement of employment of the following:  

• The employee's right to earned sick leave;  
• The manner in which sick leave is accrued and calculated;  
• The terms of the use of earned sick leave as guaranteed by the Healthy WorkplacesAct; 
• That retaliation against employees for the use of sick leave is prohibited;  
• The employee's right to file a complaint with the secretary if earned sick leave as required pursuant to the Healthy Workplaces Act is denied by the employer or if the employee is retaliated against; and 
• All means of enforcing violations of the Healthy Workplaces Act.

Employers shall display a poster that contains the information required in a conspicuous and accessible place in each establishment where employees are employed. The Notice and Poster shall be in English, Spanish, or any language that is the first language spoken by at least ten percent of the employer's workforce, as requested by the employee.  

Employers are required to retain for the immediately preceding 36-month period records documenting hours worked by employees and earned sick leave taken by employees.  

Next Steps 

Paylocity will have the accrual requirements set up with our system prior to July 1, 2022. Please work with your Account Manager if you have questions about how to add a time off type or approve time off. 

For more detailed information on New Mexico’s Healthy Workplaces Act requirements, please click here. 

Thank you for choosing Paylocity as your Payroll Tax and HCM partner. 

This information is provided as a courtesy, may change, and is not intended as legal or tax guidance. Employers with questions or concerns outside the scope of a Payroll Service Provider are encouraged to seek the advice of a qualified CPA, Tax Attorney or Advisor.