SENATE BILL 244

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Steven P. Neville

AN ACT

RELATING TO LABORERS; PROVIDING A RATIONAL BASIS FOR THE "FARM AND RANCH LABORERS" EXEMPTION FROM THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 52-1-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (2nd S.S.), Chapter 2, Section 4) is amended to read:

     "52-1-6. APPLICATION OF PROVISIONS OF ACT.--

          A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act shall apply to employers of three or more workers; provided that act shall apply to all employers engaged in activities required to be licensed under the provisions of the Construction Industries Licensing Act regardless of the number of employees.

          B. The provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act shall not apply to:

                (1) employers of private domestic servants; and

                (2) farm and ranch laborers. For the purposes of this paragraph, the legislature finds that farm and ranch work is seasonal, that many farm and ranch laborers work temporarily at a farm or ranch and migrate from farm to farm and ranch to ranch and that there is a high rate of turnover in farm and ranch laborers, thus making it difficult to track workers and substantiate the source and cause of an illness or injury. The legislature further finds that farming and ranching work is subject to the vagaries of weather and to the limitations of federal commodities pricing laws that make it difficult or impossible for farm and ranch employers to reasonably assess on a seasonal basis their farm and ranch costs, income, laborer needs and insurance needs. Therefore, this exemption represents a balancing of interests that protects these employers from unreasonable costs of providing insurance in an unpredictable market.

          [B.] C. An election to be subject to the Workers' Compensation Act by employers of private domestic servants or farm and ranch laborers, by persons for whom the services of qualified real estate salespersons are performed or by a partner or self-employed person may be made by filing, in the office of the director, either a sworn statement to the effect that the employer accepts the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act or an insurance or security undertaking as required by Section 52-1-4 NMSA 1978.

          [C.] D. Every worker shall be conclusively presumed to have accepted the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act if [his] the worker's employer is subject to the provisions of that act and has complied with its requirements, including insurance.

          [D. Such] E. Compliance with the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act, including the provisions for insurance, shall be [and construed to be] a surrender by the employer and the worker of their rights to any other method, form or amount of compensation or determination thereof or to any cause of action at law, suit in equity or statutory or common-law right to remedy or proceeding whatever for or on account of personal injuries or death of the worker than as provided in the Workers' Compensation Act and shall be an acceptance of all of the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act and shall bind the worker [himself] and, for compensation for [his] the worker's death, shall bind [his] the worker's personal representative, [his] surviving spouse and next of kin, as well as the employer and those conducting [his] the employer's business during bankruptcy or insolvency.

         [E.] F. The Workers' Compensation Act provides exclusive remedies. No cause of action outside the Workers' Compensation Act shall be brought by an employee or dependent against the employer or [his] the employer's representative, including the insurer, guarantor or surety of any employer, for any matter relating to the occurrence of or payment for any injury or death covered by the Workers' Compensation Act. Nothing in the Workers' Compensation Act, however, shall affect [or be construed to affect] in any way the existence of or the mode of trial of any claim or cause of action that the worker has against any person other than [his] the worker's employer or another employee of [his] the worker's employer, including a management or supervisory employee, or the insurer, guarantor or surety of [his] the worker's employer."

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