New Mexico

Taking Time Off from Work

Paid Sick & Safe Time

• If you are a covered employee in New Mexico, you have the right to earn and take up to 64 hours of paid sick time per year.
• Under this law, you earn sick time at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours you work.
• Sick time under this law can be used for “safe time” purposes to address certain needs, including non-medical needs, that may arise if you or your family member are a victim of domestic violence.
• For more information about your rights, see here.

Paid Time Off

• • Under this law, you can earn one hour of paid time off for every 32 hours you work.
  • If your employer has 10 or fewer employees, you can use up to 28 hours of earned paid leave per year. If your employer has 11 to 34 employees, you can use up to 44 hours of earned paid leave per year. If your employer has 35 or more employees, you can use up to 56 hours of earned paid leave per year.
  • Your employer can require you to be employed for 90 days before allowing use of earned paid leave.
  • You can use earned paid time off without providing a reason to your employer for such use. This can include time off due to an illness, injury, sickness, etc.
  • Absent an emergency, illness or other sudden necessity for taking earned paid time off, an employee must give notice to their employer “as soon as practicable” of their use of paid time off.
  • To learn more about the law, see here. For the text of the law, see here.

Unpaid Family & Medical Leave

• • Only about half of all private sector workers in the U.S. are covered by the law. You must: 1) work for the government or a company with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite; and 2) have worked with your employer for at least 1 year; and 3) have worked at least 1,250 hours in the year before taking leave.
  • If you are covered, you can use the 12 weeks to care for your own serious medical needs, including those related to pregnancy and recovery from childbirth. You may also take the leave on an intermittent basis or may work on a reduced schedule.
  • While you are on leave, if you receive health insurance through your employer, you have the right to keep your health insurance benefits.
  • When you return to work, you have the right to return to the same or a very similar job, unless you fall into a narrow exception.
  • If you have accrued paid leave from your employer, you may choose to use that paid time off concurrently with your FMLA time. Your employer can also require you to use your paid leave—including paid vacation, personal, or sick days—while you are taking FMLA leave.
  • For more information about the Family and Medical Leave Act, see here.

Other Laws that May Provide Time Off or Paid Benefits

• New Mexico’s Promoting Financial Independence for Victims of Domestic Abuse Act gives you the right to take unpaid intermittent time off for up to 14 days per year if you or a family member needs to obtain an order of protection or other judicial relief from domestic abuse or to meet with law enforcement officials, to consult with attorneys or district attorneys’ victim advocates or to attend court proceedings related to the domestic abuse of yourself or a family member.
  • Family members include a child under the age of 18 or any person for whom you are a legal guardian.
• If you were hurt while working or became sick as a result of your job, you may also be entitled to paid benefits and other protections through Workers’ Compensation.
• If you lose your job due to your own medical needs, and are able to continue working, you may still be able to get Unemployment Insurance. For more information about how to apply, consult your state’s website. You may also want to consult with an attorney if you have questions about your eligibility.

Reasonable Accommodations and Anti-Discrimination Laws 

• The New Mexico Human Rights Act bans disability discrimination and covers employers with 4 or more employees. Should your disability require some changes to your position, your boss must provide you with a reasonable accommodation so that you can perform your job, unless it would be very difficult or expensive for them to do so. A reasonable accommodation can include anything from changes to your workspace to modifying your work schedule to restructuring your job.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers in the U.S. with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities and makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against workers with disabilities. Disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, which can include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. This means:
  • Your boss cannot fire you, refuse to give you a promotion, or harass you because you have a disability.
  • If you have a disability, your boss cannot refuse to give you small changes at work that you need to stay healthy, like breaks to take medication, temporary relief from heavy lifting, or a stool to sit on during your shift. These changes are called “reasonable accommodations” and are available as long as you can still complete the basic duties of your job with those changes. Your boss does not have to give you an accommodation that would be very difficult or expensive, like building a whole new office.

Taking Time Off from Work

Paid Sick & Safe Time

• If you are a covered employee in New Mexico, you have the right to earn and take up to 64 hours of paid sick time per year.
• Under this law, you earn sick time at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours you work.
• Under the law, you can take sick time to care for yourself or a spouse; domestic partner; your or your spouse’s or domestic partner’s child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling; any other individual whose close association with you or your spouse or domestic partner is the equivalent of a family relationship (such as a close friend who is like family, a significant other, etc.); or a spouse or domestic partner of any of the aforementioned family members.
• Sick time under this law can be used for “safe time” purposes to address certain needs, including non-medical needs, that may arise if you or your family member are a victim of domestic violence.
• For more information about your rights, see here.

Paid Time Off

• • Under this law, you can earn one hour of paid time off for every 32 hours you work.
  • If your employer has 10 or fewer employees, you can use up to 28 hours of earned paid leave per year. If your employer has 11 to 34 employees, you can use up to 44 hours of earned paid leave per year. If your employer has 35 or more employees, you can use up to 56 hours of earned paid leave per year.
  • Your employer can require you to be employed for 90 days before allowing use of earned paid leave.
  • You can use earned paid time off without providing a reason to your employer for such use. This can include time off due to an illness, injury, sickness, etc.
  • Absent an emergency, illness or other sudden necessity for taking earned paid time off, an employee must give notice to their employer “as soon as practicable” of their use of paid time off.
  • To learn more about the law, see here. For the text of the law, see here.

Unpaid Family & Medical Leave

• • Only about half of all private sector workers in the U.S. are covered by the law. To qualify, you must (1) work for the government or a company with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite; and (2) have worked with your employer for at least 1 year; and (3) have worked at least 1,250 hours in the year before taking leave.
  • If you are covered, you can use the 12 weeks to care for a seriously ill family member. Under the FMLA, covered family members include a worker’s son or daughter under the age of 18 (or an adult child unable to care for him or herself due to a physical or mental disability), spouse, and parent.
  • The FMLA defines “son or daughter” to include a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis. For more information about protections the FMLA provides for LGBT families, see here.
  • You may also take the leave on an intermittent basis or may work on a reduced schedule to care for a seriously ill family member.
  • While you are on leave, if you receive health insurance through your employer, you have the right to keep your health insurance benefits.
  • When you return to work, you have the right to return to the same or a very similar job, unless you fall into a narrow exception.
  • If you have accrued paid leave from your employer, you may choose to use that paid time off concurrently with your FMLA time. Your employer can also require you to use your paid leave—including paid vacation, personal, or sick days—while you are taking FMLA leave. For more information about the Family and Medical Leave Act, see here.

Other Laws that May Provide Time Off or Paid Benefits

• New Mexico’s Promoting Financial Independence for Victims of Domestic Abuse Act gives you the right to take unpaid intermittent time off for up to 14 days if you or a family member needs to obtain an order of protection or other judicial relief from domestic abuse or to meet with law enforcement officials, to consult with attorneys or district attorneys’ victim advocates or to attend court proceedings related to the domestic abuse of yourself or a family member.
  • Family members include a child under the age of 18 or any person for whom you are a legal guardian.
• If you lose your job because you have family caregiving responsibilities, you may still be able to get Unemployment Insurance. For more information about how to apply, consult your state’s website. You may also want to consult with an attorney if you have questions about your eligibility.

Special Protections for Veterans’ and Military Families

Unpaid Family & Medical Leave

• The FMLA provides special protections for service-connected injuries or illnesses. If you are the spouse, parent, son, daughter, or next-of-kin of a veteran or a member of the Armed Services, including the National Guard and Reserves, you may be able to take military caregiver leave. You can take up to a total of 26 weeks of unpaid leave a year to take care of your military relative if he or she has a serious injury or illness stemming from his or her military service.
• In addition to the ordinary protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act, if you have a parent, child, or spouse on or called to active duty service in a foreign country, you may be eligible for what is called “qualifying exigency” leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to address certain needs arising out of that active duty service. This leave allows you to take up to a total of 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year.
  • This leave is available to address many different types of needs, including:
    • tending to the needs of the children of a service member, such as arranging childcare, attending meetings, or enrolling the child in a new school
    • making legal or financial arrangements for a military member
    • spending time with a servicemember on a short-term rest and recuperation leave
    • arranging care for the parent of a servicemember when the parent is unable to care for himself or herself.

Anti-Discrimination Laws

• Some workers in New Mexico are protected from caregiver discrimination.
  • If you work in the Village of Angel Fire, harassment based on your familial status is not tolerated.
  • See here for a comprehensive list of localities that have outlawed caregiver discrimination. Note, however, that your city may have protections not listed in this chart. You may want to consult with an attorney if you have questions about rights in your city.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) bans unfair treatment of workers based on their relationship with a person with a disability. For example, your boss can’t cut your hours because they think you can’t work as hard because you have a child with asthma. Or your boss cannot assume that you will cost more on the company’s health insurance plan because your family member is seriously ill. However, this law does not give relatives of a person with a disability the right to accommodations, such as a schedule change, to help them provide care.

Pregnancy Discrimination 

• The Pregnancy Discrimination Act makes it illegal for any employer in the U.S. with 15 or more workers to treat employees unfairly because they are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or have experienced a pregnancy loss. That means:
  • Your boss can’t fire you or cut your hours when they find out that you’re pregnant or trying to get pregnant. You also have the right to be free from harassment at work because you are pregnant.
  • If your employer asks you about your pregnancy or plans to have children in a job interview, that may be evidence of pregnancy discrimination.
  • Your employer can’t treat you differently from other workers just because you are pregnant or have experienced pregnancy loss.
• The New Mexico Human Rights Act also bans discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, and covers all employers with 4 or more employees. If you are pregnant, your employer has to treat you the same as your coworkers who are temporarily disabled. This includes equal access to benefits.

Workplace Accommodations 

• If you are working and pregnant, recovering from childbirth, pumping milk, or have a related medical condition, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act can help you protect your health and the health of your pregnancy, without losing your job.
  • Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a nationwide law, most workers have a right to “reasonable accommodations,” or temporary changes at work. You do not need to have a disability or pregnancy complication to be eligible for an accommodation. Examples of “Reasonable accommodations” can include:
    • Flexible scheduling for prenatal or postnatal appointments
    • Additional, longer, or more flexible breaks to drink water, eat, rest, or use the bathroom
    • Light duty, or help with manual labor and lifting
    • Temporary transfer to a less physically demanding or safer position
    • Limiting exposure to hazardous chemicals
    • Access to a water bottle or food
    • Leave or time off to recover from childbirth, even if you don’t qualify for the FMLA
    • Leave or time off for bedrest, recovery from miscarriage, postpartum depression, mastitis, and other pregnancy-related health issues
    • Providing equipment such as a stool to sit on
    • Changing a uniform or dress code, like allowing wearing maternity pants
    • Changing a work schedule, like allowing shorter work hours or a later start time to accommodate morning sickness
    • Breaks, private space (not in a bathroom), and other accommodations for lactation needs, like adding a lock to a meeting room for private breast milk expression
    • Remote work or telework

• Under the New Mexico Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act, if you work for an employer with 4 or more employees and you need a “reasonable accommodation” because of your pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition, your employer has to give it to you unless it would be really difficult or expensive (an “undue hardship”).
  • For more information about your rights under this law, see here.

Taking Time Off from Work 

Paid Time Off

• If you are covered under Bernalillo County’s Employee Wellness Act, you may be able to use your accrued paid time off for medical needs while pregnant, e.g., for a prenatal appointment. For more information on this law, see the “Caring for Your Own Medical Needs” tab.

• If you are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, you have the right to take time off during pregnancy or after experiencing a miscarriage without losing your job. See the “Leaving Work for Childbirth and Bonding” section under the next tab for more information and see this guide to your workplace rights around miscarriage.
• The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act may provide you with unpaid time off from work as a reasonable accommodation for a limitation related to your pregnancy or a related medical condition. For example, if you need time off for morning sickness, prenatal appointments, or bed rest, then the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act can help. Note that under the federal law, your employer may not push you onto unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation (like a transfer) would allow you to keep working. See below for information about how the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act applies to childbirth.
• The New Mexico Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act (see above) may also give you the right to unpaid, job-protected time off work as a “reasonable accommodation.”

The U.S. is one of the only countries in the world with no national law guaranteeing paid family and medical leave. However, you may have the right to unpaid leave during pregnancy, childbirth, and to bond with a new child. You may have additional rights under state and/or local laws. See the “Caring for Your Own Medical Needs” or “Caring for a Loved One” tabs for more information.

Unpaid Family & Medical Leave 

The law may protect your job while you are taking leave due to pregnancy, childbirth, or to bond with a new child (including adopted and foster children).

• If you are covered, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows you to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off of work per year to address your own serious health needs (including pregnancy), bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill or injured family member, or address certain military family needs—without losing your job (or your health insurance, if you have it).
  • Only about half of all private sector workers in the U.S. are covered by the law. You must (1) work for the government or a company with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite; (2) have worked with your employer for at least 1 year; and (3) have worked at least 1,250 hours in the year before taking leave.
  • If you are covered, you can use the 12 weeks to care for your own health (including pregnancy), to care for a new child after birth, adoption, or foster placement, or to care for a seriously ill family member. Remember that you only get 12 weeks a year in total—if you take time off before you give birth for your own health needs, you’ll have less time afterward to bond with your baby.
  • Before giving birth, you may use your leave an hour or day at a time—such as by taking a day off per week to go to the doctor—rather than all at once. Your employer must approve, however, if you want to use leave time in smaller chunks to bond with your baby.
  • While you are on leave, if you receive health insurance through your employer, you have the right to keep your health insurance benefits.
  • When you return to work, you have the right to return to the same or a very similar job, unless you fall into a narrow exception.
  • If you are in the top 10% of highest-paid workers in your company, different rules apply.
  • If you have accrued paid leave from your employer, you may choose to use that paid time off concurrently with your FMLA time. Your employer can also require you to use your paid leave—including paid vacation, personal, or sick days—while you are taking FMLA leave.
• Even if you are not eligible for FMLA leave, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act can provide time off to recover from childbirth as a reasonable accommodation so long as it would not be extremely difficult or expensive for your employer to provide you with the time off.
• The New Mexico Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act may also give you the right to unpaid, job-protected time off work as a reasonable accommodation to physically recover from childbirth. See the “Pregnancy/Pregnancy Loss” tab for more information.

Please note that each of these laws often covers certain categories of employees, but may not cover all types of employees. For example, special rules often apply to government employees. Additionally, different laws may have different standards to determine which health needs qualify for coverage. And, in many cases, more than one law may apply to your situation. If you have a question about whether you are covered under any of the laws mentioned, contact A Better Balance at 1-833-NEED-ABB.

Nursing Rights 

• You have the right to express or pump milk at work. If your workplace has 4 or more employees, you must receive flexible break time to express breast milk. Your employer must provide a clean, private place (not a bathroom) near your workspace for you to pump.
• The New Mexico Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act may also give you the right to other lactation accommodations unless those accommodations would be very difficult or expensive for your employer to provide. You are covered by this law if you work for an employer with 4 or more employees.
• Rights for breastfeeding workers are strong in New Mexico, but national laws may also protect you (for example, if you work outside New Mexico):
  • The nationwide PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act applies to nearly all workers and gives you the legal right to private, non-bathroom space and reasonable break time for pumping at work. Learn more about your rights under the PUMP Act here or click the button above for a comprehensive guide on how to talk to your boss about your need to pump at work.
  • The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act can help you if you need reasonable accommodations for lactation-related needs, such as break time and private space to express breastmilk, a change in uniform if it’s affecting your ability to pump, or avoiding toxins that may be harmful for lactating parents.
• It is illegal under the PUMP Act, Pregnancy Discrimination Act and/or the New Mexico Human Rights Act, for your boss to retaliate against you because you are lactating.
• Under New Mexico law, you have the right to breastfeed your child in any public or private location. For the text of the law, see here.

Caregiver Discrimination 

• Some workers in New Mexico are protected from caregiver discrimination.
  • If you work in the Village of Angel Fire, harassment based on your familial status is not tolerated.
  • See here for a comprehensive list of localities that have outlawed caregiver discrimination. Note, however, that your city may have protections not listed in this chart. You may want to consult with an attorney if you have questions about rights in your city.
• Nationwide federal anti discrimination law, often referred to as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibits discrimination against caregivers if that discrimination is based on sex (including pregnancy), race, color, religion, national origin, disability, or genetic information. That means, for instance, if your employer refuses to promote you or cuts your hours because you are a mother and they have a stereotype that mothers are unable to work, that could be illegal discrimination under nationwide law.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) bans unfair treatment of workers based on their relationship with a person with a disability. For example, your boss can’t cut your hours because they think you can’t work as hard because you have a child with asthma. Or your boss cannot assume that you will cost more on the company’s health insurance plan because your family member is seriously ill. However, this law does not give relatives of a person with a disability the right to accommodations, such as a schedule change, to help them provide care.

Taking Time Off from Work

Paid Sick & Safe Time

• If you are a covered employee in New Mexico, you have the right to earn and take up to 64 hours of paid sick time per year.
• Under this law, you earn sick time at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours you work.
• Under the law, you can take sick time to care for yourself or a spouse; domestic partner; your or your spouse’s or domestic partner’s child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling; any other individual whose close association with you or your spouse or domestic partner is the equivalent of a family relationship (such as a close friend who is like family, a significant other, etc.); or a spouse or domestic partner of any of the aforementioned family members.
• Sick time under this law can be used for “safe time” purposes to address certain needs, including non-medical needs, that may arise if you or your family member are a victim of domestic violence.
• For more information about your rights, see here.

Paid Time Off

• • Under this law, you can earn one hour of paid time off for every 32 hours you work.
  • If your employer has 10 or fewer employees, you can use up to 28 hours of earned paid leave per year. If your employer has 11 to 34 employees, you can use up to 44 hours of earned paid leave per year. If your employer has 35 or more employees, you can use up to 56 hours of earned paid leave per year.
  • Your employer can require you to be employed for 90 days before allowing use of earned paid leave.
  • You can use earned paid time off without providing a reason to your employer for such use. This can include time off due to an illness, injury, sickness, etc.
  • Absent an emergency, illness or other sudden necessity for taking earned paid time off, an employee must give notice to their employer “as soon as practicable” of their use of paid time off.
  • To learn more about the law, see here. For the text of the law, see here.

• If you are covered, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows you to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off of work per year to address your own serious health needs (including pregnancy), bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill or injured family member, or address certain military family needs—without losing your job (or your health insurance, if you have it). See the “Time Off for Childbirth and Bonding” tab for more information on these laws.

• If you lose your job because you have family caregiving responsibilities, you may still be able to get Unemployment Insurance. For more information about how to apply, consult your state’s website. You may also want to consult with an attorney if you have questions about your eligibility.