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2021 NEW MEXICO LEGISLATURE

Paid sick leave bill clears first hurdle

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Legislation requiring paid sick leave to be offered to all workers in New Mexico cleared its first committee Thursday, Feb. 4, after the sponsors of two different bills on the subject agreed to combine their efforts.

House Bill 37, sponsored primarily by Angelica Rubio, D-Las Cruces, and House Bill 20, sponsored primarily by Christine Chandler, D-Rio Rancho, were combined into a committee substitute for HB 20. That bill passed the House Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on a 5-3 vote.

The bill would require employers to offer paid sick-leave benefits to all employees, both full-time and part-time. Workers would earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.

The maximum number of hours available for use each year would depend on the size of the business. For small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, workers could take up to 40 hours in a year. For larger businesses, the cap would be 64 hours.

Paid sick leave could be claimed for any type of illness or health condition by the worker or a family member; for both curative and preventative medical care; for the inability to work due to a public health emergency; or for absences caused by domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking of the employee or a family member.

Documentation by a healthcare or legal professional justifying the absence would be required if the worker is out for three consecutive days or longer.

The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions would be responsible for investigating complaints. Employers found to be in violation of the law would be required to pay the worker three times what they owe in unpaid leave and interest. The employer could also be charged in criminal court with a misdemeanor.

Before voting, committee members listened to nearly two hours of public testimony. The business community went first, arguing that the added expense at this time of restrictions caused by the pandemic would be the final blow for businesses both large and small all over the state.

“These types of government mandates reduce job opportunities and hurt hard-working New Mexicans,” said Jack Bent of the New Mexico Business Coalition, who noted that the paid sick leave proposal is coming on top of an increase in the minimum wage that took effect at the start of the year.

Jason Espinoza of the National Federal of Independent Businesses said the state should have some kind of reimbursement to help small businesses with the additional costs. And, Rob Black, president of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, said the enforcement penalties were too harsh 

“The punitive nature in the enforcement side creates risk and creates a challenge for employers to mitigate that risk,” he said. “Where there is an honest mistake for a small employer, we need to be able to accommodate for that.”

But supporters of the bill far outnumbered the opponents. Speaking in both English and Spanish, they argued that low-wage workers don’t have the option of staying home when they are sick, creating a risk for co-workers and anybody else with whom they come in contact. That danger has been greatly enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic, they said.

“This is a health crisis in which black and brown workers have had the highest rate of contact with COVID-19,” said the Rev. Carolyn Wilkins of the Wellspring Church in Las Cruces.

Joseph Hill, a pastor in Lordsburg, noted that for families living in remote, rural communities, it can often take an entire day to access basic healthcare.

Father Tom Smith of the Holy Cross Retreat Center in Mesilla said it was critical that part-time employees be included in the bill.

“This is a fairness issue,” he said. “It’s not just an economic issue, it’s a justice issue.”

Chandler said the reason the bill allows for triple damages is if employers only had to pay back what was owed, there would be no disincentive to break the law. She said enforcement would be rare, adding, “Almost all employers follow the law.”

Rubio reminded business owners complaining about the bill that there are several other pieces of legislation working through the process that would give them help to get through the pandemic.

“This is the one bill that is for workers, and it works in combination with all of the other things we are trying to do for small businesses,” she said.

Committee Chair Elise Lee Alcon, D-Milan, said this is something the business community should have already been doing on its own.

“I’ve gotten a lot of calls from businesses. Now they want to be a part of this,” he said. “My thought, very simply, was businesses, you have had the opportunity to do something. Why is it that government has to step in and do what you should be doing voluntarily?”

The bill passed on a party-line vote, and now goes to the House Judiciary Committee.

Walter Rubel can be reached at waltrubel@gmail.com.

Walt Rubel

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