When it comes to paid family leave programs across the United States, New Mexico belongs to the majority of states—in other words, it hasn’t passed a statewide employee leave law. But it’s not for lack of trying: elected officials have proposed some form of paid family and medical leave (PFML) to the New Mexico state legislature since the early 2000s.
If you employ people in New Mexico, they have to rely on federal leave, state-mandated sick leave, and any employer-provided leave you offer. Here’s what you need to know to stay compliant.
New Mexico only has two employee leave guarantees
New Mexico doesn’t require employers to provide paid leave for situations like bonding and caretaking. The state lets employers choose which benefits to offer. However, there are a couple of state laws:
Paid parental leave for state employees
People who work for the state of New Mexico, including in government and public university roles, are eligible for 12 weeks of paid parental leave after the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
To qualify, employees need to:
Work at least 20 hours a week
Be employed for the state for at least 12 months before taking leave
Paid sick leave
New Mexico’s earned sick leave law, which took effect in 2022 as part of the Healthy Workplaces Act, requires all employers in the state to give employees paid sick time. Employees accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours they work, up to 64 hours of sick leave a year.
They can use the time to:
Take medical or preventive care appointments
Take personal sick days
Care for sick family members or attend their medical appointments
Recover from domestic abuse, assault, or stalking
Related: Are there any sick time laws in your area you should be aware of?
Some New Mexico employees are entitled to unpaid federal leave
The United States doesn’t have a national paid leave policy for employees, but it does guarantee unpaid leave to qualifying workers. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) says all employers with at least 50 employees have to give them 12 weeks of unpaid leave for certain life events.
FMLA leave
Qualifying situations | Eligibility requirements | Key protections |
Bonding with a newborn, adopted, and fostered child Caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition Managing a serious personal health condition Managing affairs when a spouse, child, or parent is on or called to active duty | Work for their employer for at least 12 months, consecutively or non-consecutively Work at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before leave begins Work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles | Job restoration after leave Continued health insurance during leave |
How to comply with FMLA leave requirements
If you’re a covered employer under FMLA—aka you have at least 50 employees working in and around the same area—here are your responsibilities.
1. Clue employees in to their leave rights
The federal Department of Labor (DOL) doesn’t contact your employees to let them know about FMLA leave. That’s your job. To avoid penalties and fines, you need to be diligent about:
Hanging an FMLA poster in your workplace. This breaks down what FMLA leave offers and how to qualify.
Giving written notice to eligible employees. Once your employees meet the FMLA eligibility criteria, you have to send them an official leave eligibility letter or email explaining how and when to request a leave.
Giving written notice to new hires. Any time you hire someone new, make sure you include a notice about FMLA in your employee handbook or onboarding documents.
2. Review employee leave requests
After your employee requests leave, you have five business days to fill out the top portion of the DOL’s Rights and Responsibilities Notice and pass it along to your employee. The form covers:
The reason your employee needs leave
Whether or not your employee is officially eligible for leave
Whether or not your employee needs to supply additional documentation to approve the leave
Your employee’s right to continued health insurance and job protection
The 12-month period in which your employee’s leave can take place
Your employee’s expected leave start and return dates
Your employee’s right to substitute PTO for FMLA leave, and whether or not you’ll require that
3. Approve or deny the leave request
You’re not legally allowed to prohibit anyone from taking their rightful leave, and you can’t discriminate or retaliate against employees who do take leave. However, you are legally allowed to deny a leave request if the employee isn’t eligible. Maybe their qualifying reason for leave doesn’t meet the DOL’s standards or definition, or they haven’t hit their work service requirements.
Once your employees return any additional papers you asked them to fill out, you’ll complete the Designation Notice and give it back to them within five business days. This notice lets them know that their requested leave was either denied or approved as FMLA leave.
4. Save any relevant records
You’ll need all your leave-related documents on hand to confirm leave approvals and prep for potential audits down the line. Hold onto your payroll receipts, pay stubs, employee requests for leave, documentation of leave start and end dates, and copies of FMLA notices.
5. Uphold your employee’s legal protections
In other words, pay the employer portion of your employee’s health insurance premiums and reinstate your employee to their position after leave.
The value of paid family leave in New Mexico
Paid family leave programs aren’t just for workers. They benefit everyone, including businesses, communities, and economies. Here’s why:
State-mandated PFML programs can:
Improve employees’ physical and mental health
Reduce infant mortality rates and improve maternal health outcomes
Keep primary caregivers and key earners in the workforce
Facilitate recruitment and employee retention for businesses
Help local brick-and-mortar businesses compete with larger multi-state companies that have more robust leave offerings
State officials have tried to pass legislation mandating paid leave since 2002. Every couple of years in New Mexico, an elected official proposes a PFML bill, but it usually dies in committee (with no action taken) or on the floor (without receiving enough votes to pass to the next round).
In 2022, the state Senate passed Senate Memorial 1, which wasn’t a PFML bill but a PFML task force. Hundreds of state employees came together to build a comprehensive report and economic model of a hypothetical New Mexico PFML program. The purpose was to recommend a specific policy to the state governor, detail the rationale behind each stipulation in the policy, and explain its economic impact.
You can read the full report here.
Creating your own paid leave policy
If you don’t offer employees any paid leave, it’s not too late to start. Research your options for purchasing a PFML insurance product and paying regular premiums. Taking a cue from past New Mexico PFML proposals and current programs in other states, here’s a good baseline to aim for:
12 weeks of paid leave to bond with a new child, care for a loved one with a serious health condition, or manage your own serious health condition
Partial wage replacement, so employees receive weekly benefits equal to 50-90% of their usual wages
Job-protected time off, so employees can return to their roles after leave
Continued health insurance, so employees maintain coverage while they’re out
Inclusive definitions of bonding, family members, and serious health conditions (for example, make bonding applicable to newborn and adopted children, as well as those with foster or kinship care placements)
Related: For step-by-step guidance on creating a paid parental leave policy, check out our Gusto guide.
New Mexico business resources
Bookmark these helpful guides:
