Employment and labor laws in New Mexico [Updated 2024]

Employment and labor laws have long been used to protect employees from discrimination and ensure their safety in the workplace. These regulations are usually accompanied by strict enforcement and serious penalties for employers who fail to comply. 

While workers are usually covered by broad federal protections, each state has its own employment and labor laws that are constantly evolving—making it challenging to keep up.

New Mexico’s regulations go beyond federal laws in many areas, including minimum wage, voting leave, and paid sick leave. If you’re hiring in the Land of Enchantment, staying ahead of compliance requirements is critical. Fortunately, Rippling’s Professional Employer Organization service can take the guesswork out of local tax registration and management while handling the complexities of New Mexico’s distinct laws—enabling you to scale your business faster.

Employment vs. labor law: What’s the difference?

The line between “employment law” and “labor law” is often blurred, as they tend to be used interchangeably in conversation. While there are similarities between them, these are distinct legal terms. Fundamentally, the distinction comes down to the parties involved. Employment law concerns the relationship between the employer and individual employees. When the relationship is between an employer and a collective group like a union, that falls under labor law.

Here’s what employment law and labor law each cover: 

• Employment law covers areas like hours, pay rates, hiring, termination, discrimination in the workplace, safety and training, and benefits. It focuses on protecting the employee. 
• Labor law covers group matters like union membership, dues, collective bargaining, strikes, and other union affairs.

Wages and hours in New Mexico

The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions enforces the state and federal minimum wage. Some local jurisdictions have their own minimum wage, but the state enforces whichever rate is higher. Employers must also adhere to New Mexico’s regulations concerning employee work hours and overtime pay. Let’s have a look.

Minimum Wage in New Mexico

The New Mexico minimum wage is $12.00 per hour, considerably more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Tipped employees are subject to lower minimum wages, but the difference is made up in tips or by the employer. You must ensure that you abide by the local wage regulations where your employees live. Here’s an overview of minimum wage requirements in New Mexico:

Setting hourly wages for employees in multiple states? It’s easy to stay compliant with Rippling. It automatically flags minimum wage violations based on where your employees are located. This is especially handy for states like New Mexico with multiple minimum wages. 

Overtime pay in New Mexico

Employees in New Mexico are eligible for overtime pay unless they’re exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Exempt employees include agricultural workers and outside salespersons.

Employees who work more than 40 hours in a seven-day workweek are entitled to an overtime hourly rate of 1.5x their regular rate. Those employed in hotels and restaurants can only work up to 10 hours daily except in emergencies. 
To adhere to New Mexico’s overtime laws, Rippling’s payroll software automatically applies the correct pay rates when an employee’s hours trigger the requirement for overtime pay.

Breaks and rest periods in New Mexico

No federal or state laws require an employer to provide meal breaks or rest periods. If an employer chooses to offer rest breaks of under 20 minutes, the employee must be paid.

Leaves of absence in New Mexico

Employers in New Mexico are required to offer leaves so that employees can deal with personal matters like illness, caring for a loved one, or even jury duty. Even if the leave is unpaid, these laws are in place to protect workers’ jobs until they can return to work. Let’s take a closer look at the different leaves available.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires eligible employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to qualified employees. This leave can be used for:

• An employee’s serious health condition
• Looking after a family member with a serious health condition
• The birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child 
• An injury or other emergency concerning a family member who has active duty status in the armed forces

Jury duty leave

Employers must allow employees to take unpaid leave if they are called for jury duty. Employees can’t be threatened or fired if they miss work, and they don’t have to use any of their annual vacation or sick leave for jury service.

Voting leave

New Mexico law permits employees two hours of paid leave to vote. However, this leave doesn’t apply to an employee whose work day starts more than two hours after the polls open or ends more than three hours before the polls close. 

Domestic abuse leave

Employers must provide domestic abuse leave to employees who are victims of domestic violence or abuse, stalking, or sexual assault. Eligible employees are entitled to 14 days of unpaid leave in any calendar year (in increments of up to 8 hours per day) for eligible reasons, such as meeting with lawyers or attending court hearings. Employers can’t retaliate against employees who take domestic abuse leave. 

Volunteer emergency responder leave

Employees who are volunteer emergency first responders (for example, firefighters) are entitled to up to 10 days of unpaid leave per year for emergency or disaster response. Similar measures apply to members of the Civil Air Patrol for search and rescue missions. 

Military leave

Employees who serve in the military or National Guard are entitled to leave and job reinstatement. Benefits vary depending on the service in which the employee serves. 

Pregnancy disability leave in New Mexico

Pregnant employees covered under New Mexico’s Healthy Workplaces Act may be able to take paid leave if they have accrued enough hours (see below). In addition, FMLA coverage would kick in for eligible employees. 

Employers with four or more employees fall under New Mexico’s Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act (NM PWA). This legislation provides pregnant employees and those who have recently given birth the right to “reasonable accommodations” in the workplace. Accommodations include changes to the employee’s job responsibilities, work environment, and schedule. 

Paid sick leave in New Mexico

Under the New Mexico Healthy Workplaces Act, employers, regardless of size, must allow employees to earn and use paid sick leave. Employees accrue paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, starting on the employee’s first day of work. Full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary workers are all covered under the Act. Employees can use up to 64 hours of earned sick leave in a 12-month period. Employers can choose to grant all 64 hours to an employee at the beginning of the year. This leave can be used for:

• The employee’s treatment or diagnosis of illness, injury, health condition, or preventative medical care 
• Care of the employee’s family members for treatment or diagnosis of illness, injury, health condition, or preventative medical care
• Consultations related to an employee’s child’s health or disability
• Absences required because of and related to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking suffered by the employee or their family member

New Mexico was considering legislation to create a state-administered program that would provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave for workers to care for a new child, their own serious medical condition, or a family member with a serious medical concern. However, New Mexico lawmakers narrowly rejected the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act in February 2024.

With Rippling, you can customize and automate your leave policy—and maintain full visibility into how employees use it.

Workplace safety in New Mexico

No matter where an employer is located in the US, they must maintain a safe working environment for their employees by providing safe equipment, training, and company-wide safety procedures. Federal laws are in place to protect employees from workplace hazards, but some states, like New Mexico, have their own plans.

The Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (NM OSHA) ensures that workplaces in New Mexico are safe. NM OSHA has adopted the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace safety standards, which means local standards mirror federal regulations.

NM OSHA is responsible for: 

• Establishing and enforcing general and industry-specific regulations that employers must adhere to, like correctly using and maintaining equipment, hazardous material handling, etc.
• Performing regular workplace inspections to verify compliance with NM OSHA standards
• Providing instruction and educational resources to assist employers and employees in understanding their rights and obligations

Some states require employers to have an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP). It’s not mandatory in New Mexico; however, IIPPs help identify and reduce potential workplace risks while creating a culture of prevention and safety.

Rippling PEO offers employers convenient pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation plans that don't require upfront payment for the whole year. Scale your business with far less stress in New Mexico and elsewhere around the country.

Discrimination and harassment laws in New Mexico

The New Mexico Human Rights Act protects workers by making it illegal for employers with four or more employees to discriminate based on the following: 

• Race
• Color
• National origin
• Ancestry
• Age (40 or older)
• Religion
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Gender
• Gender identity
• Pregnancy, childbirth, or conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth
• Physical or mental disability
• Serious medical condition 
• Genetic information (including family medical history) 

Employers must comply with anti-discrimination laws over the entire employment relationship, including hiring, wages, promotions, termination, and more. For example, an employer can’t fire someone over their sexual orientation or pay an employee different wages based on their religious beliefs.

Under federal law, workplace harassment can be considered a form of discrimination. Harassment occurs when an employee experiences unwelcome behavior based on the above protected characteristics. Unwelcome behavior can take many forms, including offensive jokes, insults, threats, slurs (racial or sexual), inappropriate photos or objects, physical or sexual assault, or other conduct that affects the employee's well-being or interferes with the performance of their job.

An example of harassment is when a worker is forced to endure an offensive environment to keep their job. It’s important to distinguish between minor annoyances like a single joke and harassment. Put simply, if offensive conduct creates a hostile workplace, that’s generally a sign of illegal behavior.

Requirements for sexual harassment training vary by state. Although this type of training isn’t mandatory in New Mexico, it’s a good idea to provide it so that employees are more aware of their conduct. Training benefits employers, too, as they’re responsible for any illegal employee behavior, whether or not they’re aware of it. Rippling’s Learning Management System is pre-loaded with core sexual harassment training courses to ensure employees remain current with all local, state, and federal laws.

Unions in New Mexico

A labor union comprises a group of workers who join forces to “act collectively” to promote their interests for better working conditions, increased wages, and other work-related issues. The National Labor Relations Board federally regulates unions in the US. Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), all employees have the right to:

• Organize or become a member of an existing union to negotiate with their employer.

• Select employee representatives and bargain collectively for contracts (collective bargaining agreements) that specify working conditions.
• Discuss employment terms and conditions with co-workers.
• Take action to improve working conditions by filing complaints with their employer or the government, seek help from a union, participate in picketing, or go on strike.

It's important to note that under the NLRA, employers can’t threaten or penalize workers if they decide to support or not support a union. At the same time, unions can’t threaten employees with job loss or other actions if they don’t support the union.

However, some union-related legislation is determined by individual states. New Mexico has not adopted a “right-to-work” law, meaning that private employers in the state can compel employees to join a union as a condition of their employment.

FAQs about New Mexico labor and employment laws

Are independent contractors covered under New Mexico employment laws? 

It depends on the law, but the answer in most cases is no. Make sure you’re classifying your workers correctly with Rippling’s free analyzer tool.

Does at-will employment exist in New Mexico?

Yes. New Mexico is an at-will employment state, meaning employment can be terminated at any time, for any reason, and without notice, as long as the reason doesn’t violate any laws or exceptions based on New Mexico court decisions. 

Does New Mexico have pay transparency legislation?

No. As of 2023, 10 states and several local jurisdictions have enacted pay transparency legislation, but New Mexico isn’t one of them. Pay transparency requires employers to disclose salary information to job applicants and current employees, making workplaces more transparent and equitable. 

What privacy rights do employees have in New Mexico?

Under New Mexico law, employers can’t ask job applicants for access to their social media accounts; however, there is no specific mention of employees. Employers can monitor workplace use of the internet, social media, email, and activity on company equipment. 

Under New Mexico’s Genetic Information Privacy Act, employers can’t use information from genetic or DNA testing when making decisions relating to HR, like recruiting and hiring. 

Employers can’t record audio or video without the consent of at least one party and must inform employees of the company’s video surveillance policy and camera locations.

Are background checks legal in New Mexico?

Federal and state laws permit background checks in New Mexico with some limitations. Consent from the applicant or employee is generally required. There are some professions where background checks are required, including childcare personnel, teachers, and healthcare workers. New Mexico is a “ban the box” state, meaning employers can’t ask about criminal records on initial job applications. 

Are whistleblowers protected in New Mexico?

New Mexico’s Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) applies only to public sector employees. However, all workers have the right to file a complaint with NM OSHA if they believe they work in an unsafe workplace. Employers can’t discriminate against any employee who exercises their health and safety rights in New Mexico.

Is workers’ compensation coverage required in New Mexico?

All businesses in New Mexico that employ three or more workers must have workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ comp covers employees if they become ill or are injured on the job. Employers with a single New Mexico employee and two or more employees in other states must also provide coverage. There are some exceptions to the “three-or-more” rule, including real estate salespeople and domestic workers. 

Are there required healthcare benefits in New Mexico?

Under federal regulations, all employers in New Mexico with 50 or more full-time employees are required to provide health insurance benefits. Smaller businesses aren’t required to offer health insurance, but they may choose to do so.

Are New Mexico employers required to provide bereavement leave?

Employers in New Mexico aren’t required to provide employees with bereavement leave. Employers may choose to adopt a policy that allows employees to take time off due to the death of a loved one, but it isn’t a legal requirement.

What employee protections are available in New Mexico if layoffs occur?

Employers covered by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act may be obligated to give workers a notice period of 60 days before any layoffs. 

The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions provides Rapid Response Assistance to help employers and employees access resources and information during layoffs and plant closures. Employers of any size may request these services.

Under New Mexico labor laws, salaried employees must receive their final paycheck within five days of layoff or termination. Employees paid by a different method, like those on commission, must be paid within ten days. Employees who quit must be paid on the next regular payday. 

What child labor laws exist in New Mexico?

Employers are subject to New Mexico child labor laws and the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Federal standards take precedence. In most cases, minors under 14 years of age can’t legally work in non-agricultural jobs. There are also restrictions for minors under 16 working on school days and during school weeks.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.