Jul 20, 2022

New Mexico Paid Sick Leave Is Effective Now

New Mexico Paid Sick Leave (Healthy Workplaces Act 2021) is a law requiring all private employers in New Mexico to allow employees to accrue and use a benefit called earned sick leave.

The law takes effect on July 1, 2022. The Act lets employees earn and use paid sick leave. Employees may use this leave for various reasons listed in the Act, like the employee’s or their qualifying family member's illness or injury, or to deal with certain legal and family issues. Employers who do not honor an employee’s rights to sick leave face potential civil liability. The Act authorizes the Labor Relations Division (LRD) of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) to investigate violations and enforce the Healthy Workplaces Act.

Employers with paid-time-off policies that are more generous than the minimum accrual and usage limits specified in Act are compliant with the Act if employees may use the leave for the same purposes and under the same terms and conditions specified in the Act.

Employees must start accruing paid sick leave on July 1, 2022. For every thirty (30) hours an employee works, the employee must accrue one (1) hour of sick leave. If an employer’s policy or a collective bargaining agreement provides that employees accrue more than one hour per every 30 worked, then use that amount. Employers may not offset this requirement with leave employees already earned or used since January 1, 2022. Employers who want to frontload to comply with the HWA for the rest of 2022 must frontload the full 64 hours, even though there will only be 6 months in the cycle for employers who choose to follow the calendar year.

The earned sick leave required by the Act is in addition to any paid time off provided by an employer pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement unless employees may use the paid time off for the same purposes and under the same terms and conditions specified in the Act.

For more information visit the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions at https://www.dws.state.nm.us/NMPaidSickLeave

Additional information can be found HERE.

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