New Mexico program
Paid sick days for your child’s care (Healthy Workplaces Act)
New Mexico’s private-sector sick-leave law lets you use earned paid time for your child’s care.
What it is
New Mexico’s private-sector sick-leave law lets you use earned paid time for your child’s care.
Private employers with at least one employee must provide earned sick leave. Accrual and use begin with employment. The leave covers a child’s illness, treatment and preventive care.
Eligibility rules
- The Healthy Workplaces Act applies to private employers with one or more employees. Federal, state and local government employers are excluded.
- There is no waiting year: accrual and use begin with the job.
- Family care includes a foster child, stepchild, legal ward or a child for whom you stand in a parent’s place.
What you get
- Paid leave earned at one hour per 30 hours worked.
- Leave for illness, diagnosis, treatment or checkups for a qualifying child.
What this includes
- An employer may limit use to 64 hours in a 12-month period. More generous employer policies or local laws still apply.
- The separate Caregiver Leave Act can let an employee use an employer’s existing eligible sick leave for family care. It includes public employers but is not limited to them.
- Family care follows the employer’s own-illness sick-leave terms and procedures. The Caregiver Leave Act creates no second bank or separate 64-hour cap. It includes spouses, domestic partners and specified relatives, including children and foster children. Payroll explains documentation and carryover, and Workforce Solutions handles statutory complaints.
If you decide to apply
- Ask HR or payroll for your earned sick-leave balance and the employer’s notice process.
- Have the treatment schedule ready. The social worker can help describe the time needed for care.
Your employer · Official page ↗
After you apply
- For unexpected absences, notice is due as soon as practicable, orally or in writing. Payroll can explain how the absence is recorded.
Good to know
A 64-hour limit is a cap an employer may place on use, not on accrual. Government employers have different rules.
Other details
- The Healthy Workplaces Act took effect July 1, 2022. Unused earned leave carries over, subject to the annual use cap. Payroll confirms any additional current leave program, employer pay and FMLA eligibility.
- The Caregiver Leave Act took effect June 14, 2019 and covers employers with at least one employee offering eligible sick leave. It includes listed blood, marriage and adoptive relatives, including grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Existing qualifying collective agreements have separate statutory protection.
Official sources
“Which paid sick days could I use for our child’s treatment? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and could you help me request leave if it fits?”
Why I’m asking: We want to understand paid time available before changing work hours.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ask for your balance in writing and give notice as soon as you can.
Your social worker
The social worker can write a letter describing the treatment schedule for HR.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- Your employer applies it; the law sets the floor.
- Ask HR
- “What is my earned sick leave balance? I need to use it for my child’s cancer treatment.”
How to apply
First step: Ask HR for your earned sick leave balance in writing this week.
- Ask HR for your earned sick leave balance in writing.
- Say you are using it for your child’s treatment, and give notice as soon as you can.
- Payroll can explain whether the Caregiver Leave Act permits family use of an existing sick-leave bank, alongside other applicable leave rules.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Tell your employer you are using earned sick leave under the Healthy Workplaces Act, as soon as you practically can.
What to gather
The diagnosis letter, the child’s insurance card, and the last two pay stubs cover most applications. The official page lists the rest.
How long: Available from your first day of work.
What a yes looks like
A balance in hours, and paid clinic days.
What a no looks like, and the next move
An employer saying you are too new or the business too small. Neither is a reason under this law.
Watch out
- Employers may cap what you use at 64 hours a year, which is not a cap on what you build up.
- The Caregiver Leave Act includes public employers but is not limited to them. It creates neither a second bank nor a separate 64-hour cap.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Paid sick leave at every private employer: one hour for every thirty worked, usable from your first day, up to 64 hours a year.
- $1 — Hours of leave earned per hours worked
- $64/year — Hours an employer may limit you to using in a twelve-month period
Legal protection: Leave can be used for a child’s illness, diagnosis, treatment or preventive care · A foster child, stepchild, legal ward or a child you stand in a parent’s place to all count · Accrual and use start with the job: there is no waiting year · A more generous local law or employer policy still stands
What it costs the family: Free: it is your employer’s obligation.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Employer size
- one or more employees; federal, state and local government employers are excluded
- Tenure
- none: accrual and use begin with employment
- Use
- a family member’s illness, injury, health condition, diagnosis, care, treatment or preventive care
The trap: Employers may cap the amount you use at 64 hours in a year, which is not the same as capping what you build up. And notice for an unexpected absence is due as soon as you practically can, orally or in writing.
Where I read this
- Healthy Workplaces Act, enrolled HB 20 (2021) — New Mexico Legislature, read September 10, 2026
- Caregiver Leave Act, enrolled SB 123 (2019) — New Mexico Legislature, read September 10, 2026
- House Bill 11 (2025) legislative status — New Mexico Legislature, read September 10, 2026