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Previous Updates
Medical Psilocybin Act
Effective June 20, 2025, Senate Bill 219 allows the use of psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, to alleviate qualifying medical conditions, such as major treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders. The Act requires the Department of Health to create the Medical Use of Psilocybin Program. The Act does not include employment-related provisions; thus, employers are not required to permit or accommodate the medical use of psilocybin in the workplace.
Santa Fe County and City Minimum Wage
https://santafenm.gov/economic-development/business-resources/living-wage-information
Military Status Discrimination
Santa Fe City and County
Discrimination Prohibitions Expanded
Effective June 16, 2023, the New Mexico Human Rights Act is amended to add gender as a protected characteristic and modify the definitions of gender identity, sex, and sexual orientation under the Act.The Act applies to employers in the state with four or more employees.
Santa Fe County and City
Just confirmed in Santa Fe, effective March 1, 2023, the minimum wage in Santa Fe County and the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico, increases from $12.95 per hour to $14.03 per hour. In addition, the Santa Fe County will have an increase in their minimum cash wage to $4.21 and maximum tip credit to $9.82 on March 1, 2023.
Paid Sick Leave
As noted in a previous communication, effective July 1, 2022, the Healthy Workplaces Act (the Act) is a law requiring all private employers, regardless of size, to allow New Mexico employees to accrue and use paid sick leave. This includes full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees.
Sick leave may be used for:
- The employee's or a covered family member's mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; medical diagnosis, care or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; or preventive medical care;
- Meetings at the employee's child's school or place of care related to the child's health or disability; and
- Absences due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking suffered by the employee or a family member.
Employees accrue one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, and may use up to 64 hours of leave each year.
Accrual and use of earned sick leave begin July 1, 2022, or when employment begins, whichever is later.
Employers with paid-time-off policies that are more generous than the minimum accrual and usage limits are compliant if employees may use the leave for the same purposes and under the same terms and conditions in the Act.
Employers will need to:
- Display the paid sick leave poster in a conspicuous and accessible place in each establishment where employees are employed. The poster must be displayed in English, Spanish or any language that is the first language spoken by at least 10 percent of the workforce.
- Give notice documents to all employees about their rights and responsibilities under the Act. Employers can use the downloadable poster available online to fulfill this requirement as they hire new staff.
Click here for the poster in English.
Click here for the poster in Spanish.
Click here for the June 2022 Reference Guide.
Bernalillo County EWA
Santa Fe Minimum Wage Increase
Effective March 1, 2022, the minimum wage in Santa Fe, New Mexico, increases from $12.32 per hour to $12.95 per hour under an annual inflation adjustment requirement. The maximum tip credit increases from $9.52 per hour to $10.15 per hour. The adjustment is based on the 2021 increase in the Consumer Price Index for the Western Region for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
Santa Fe County is also increasing the minimum wage to $12.95 per hour on March 1, 2022.
Bernalillo County Earned Paid Time Off
Human Rights Act Amended
Effective July 1, 2021, New Mexico's Human Rights Act is amended to prohibit discrimination on the basis of traits historically associated with race, including hair texture, hair length, protective hairstyles and cultural or religious headdresses.
Protective hairstyles include:
- Braids,
- Locs,
- Twists,
- Tight coils or curls,
- Cornrows,
- Bantu knots,
- Afros,
- Weaves, and
- Wigs or head wraps.
Cultural or religious headdresses include:
- Hijabs,
- Head wraps, or
- Other headdresses used as part of an individual's personal cultural or religious beliefs.
New Mexico Repeals Subminimum Wage for Secondary School Students
Effective June 18, 2021, the New Mexico subminimum wage for secondary school students - under which an employer that employs a student regularly enrolled in secondary school to work after school hours or when school is not in session could pay the student a subminimum wage of $8.50 an hour - is repealed.
Legalization of Recreational Marijuana
Effective June 29, 2021, New Mexico legalizes possession and recreational use of up to two ounces of marijuana by adults 21 and older. Under the law, New Mexico employers retain the right to prohibit impairment or marijuana possession at work or during work hours and to take adverse action against employees who violate these prohibitions.
The law also does not protect employees who use or are impaired by medical marijuana while working or on the premises of employment or during the hours of employment. Employers may still take adverse action against employees "for use of, or being impaired by, [marijuana] on the premises of the place of employment or during the hours of employment," even if the employee has a prescription for medical marijuana.
Healthy Workplaces Act (HWA)
Beginning next year on July 1, 2022, New Mexico will join 15 other states (and Washington, D.C.) in requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees. HWA will require that an employee accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked up to a total of 64 hours. Paid sick leave can be taken in one-hour increments unless the employer permits employees to take leave in smaller increments.
Paid sick leave may be used for the employee’s needs; the need to care for a family member; for meetings at the employee’s child’s school or place of care related to the child’s health or disability; and for necessary absences due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking suffered by the employee or a family member of the employee.
Employers with paid time off (PTO) policies that provide the minimum amount of leave required by the HWA (64 hours) may use their PTO policy to comply with their HWA requirements, so long as employees can take PTO for the same reasons as the HWA and under the same terms and conditions.
Santa Fe Minimum Wage Increase
Effective March 1, 2021, the minimum wage in the city and county of Santa Fe, New Mexico, increases from $12.10 per hour to $12.32 per hour under an annual inflation adjustment requirement.
September 2020
Bernalillo County Paid Time Off
This Paid Time Off (PTO) Ordinance was passed in July, as noted in a prior FranklyHR, but was postponed until October 1, 2020 due to the COVID-19 public health crisis. The county has released a poster. Click on the link below for a poster and further information:
