AN ACT

RELATING TO MINIMUM WAGES; CLARIFYING THE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES; AMENDING SECTION 50-4-22 NMSA 1978 (BEING LAWS 1955, CHAPTER 200, SECTION 3, AS AMENDED).

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

     Section 1. Section 50-4-22 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1955, Chapter 200, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "50-4-22. MINIMUM WAGES.--

          A. An employer, except as provided in Section 50-4-21 NMSA 1978, shall pay the minimum wage rate of five dollars fifteen cents ($5.15) an hour, except that an employer furnishing food, utilities, supplies or housing to an employee who is engaged in agriculture may deduct the reasonable value of such furnished items from any wages due to the employee.

          B. An employee subject to Subsection A of this section who customarily and regularly receives more than thirty dollars ($30.00) a month in tips shall be paid a minimum hourly wage of two dollars thirteen cents ($2.13). The employer may consider tips as part of wages, but the tips combined with the employer's cash wage shall not equal less than five dollars sixty cents ($5.60) per hour. All tips received by such employees shall be retained by the employee, except that nothing in this section shall prohibit the pooling of tips among employees.  

          C. An employee subject to the provisions of Subsection A of this section shall not be required to work more than forty hours in any week of seven days, unless the employee is paid one and one-half times the employee's regular hourly rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of forty hours. For an employee who is paid a fixed salary for fluctuating hours and who is employed by an employer a majority of whose business in New Mexico consists of providing investigative services to the federal government, the hourly rate may be calculated in accordance with the provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the regulations pursuant to that act; provided that in no case shall the hourly rate be less than the federal minimum wage."

     Section 2. APPLICABILITY.–-The provisions of Subsection B of Section 1 of this 2005 act apply to wages earned on or after July 1, 2005.

HB 178

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