SENATE BILL 646

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Peter Wirth

AN ACT

RELATING TO LABOR; PROTECTING WORKER RIGHTS TO WAGES AND LEAVE.

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

     SECTION 1. Section 50-4-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1937, Chapter 109, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "50-4-1. DEFINITIONS.--[(a)] Whenever used in [this act] Chapter 50, Article 4, unless otherwise provided:

          A. "employer" includes every person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, receiver or other officer of the court of this state and any agent or officer of any of the above-mentioned classes employing any person in this state, except employers of domestic labor in private homes and employers of livestock and agricultural labor. In determining whether a person is an employer, the workforce solutions department and courts shall consider all relevant evidence, including informal handwritten documentation, audio or video recordings, statements and other evidence of the existence of an employer-employee relationship; and

          [(b)] B. "wages" [shall mean] means all amounts at which the labor or service rendered is recompensed, including cash payment, whether the amount is fixed or ascertained on a time, task, piece or commission basis or other method of calculating such amount. For the purpose of amounts due to an employee pursuant to Sections 50-4-4 and 50-4-5 NMSA 1978, "wages" shall include an employee's vacation, holiday, sick and other leave accrued, but unused as of the date that the employee quits or is discharged from employment, and shall be paid at the employee's final rate of pay."

     SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2015.

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