When newleavelegislation goes into effect, insurance carriers needagile absence management solutionsin order to adapt quickly. In this blog, you'll learn key details on therecently passedNew Mexico Healthy Workplaces Actand how FINEOS is helping carriers remain in compliance.

On April 8, GovernorGrisham of New Mexico signed the House Bill 20, the Healthy Workplaces Act, bringingpaid sick leave to the state. New Mexico joins 15 states and more than 20 localities in enacting paid sick leave legislationas trends towardnew leave laws continue to grow, a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The law goes into effect July 1, 2022and contains the following provisions:

Eligible Employees: All employees are eligible, including those employedon a part-time, seasonal or temporary basis.

Covered Employer: All employersin the stateare covered.

Family Members: Covered family members include an employee'sspouse or domestic partner, or theemployee's, employee's spouse or domestic partner' child, parent, grandparent,grandchild, sibling, spouse or domestic partner of a family member,or anyindividual whose close association with the employee or the employee's spouse or domestic partner is the equivalent of a family relationship.

Accrual and Frontloading:Employees accrue a minimum of one hour of earned sick leave for every 30hours worked. Anemployer can choosetofrontload 64hours of earned sick leave each yearinstead of using an accrual method. Employers can limitemployees to a total of 64hours of earned sick leave per 12-month period.

Carry Over: Accruedunused earned sick leave carriesover from year to year, but an employer is not required to permit an employee to use more than 64hours in a12-month period.

Leave Reasons:An employee may use earned sick leave for:

  • their ownorafamily member's:
    • mental or physical illness, injury or health condition
    • medical diagnosis, care or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition
    • preventive medical care
  • meetings at their child's school or place of care related to the child's health or disability
  • absence necessary due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking suffered by the employee or a family member, to:
    • obtain medical or psychological treatment or other counseling
    • relocate
    • prepare for or participate in legal proceedings
    • obtain services or assist a family member of the employee.

Notice Requirements:When the use of earned sick leave is foreseeable, the employee mustmake a reasonable effort to provide advance notice of the need for such sick leave to the employer and mustmake a reasonable effort to schedule the use of earned sick leave in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. When the use of earned sick leave is not foreseeable, the employee mustnotify the employer as soon as practicable.Employers have written notice and posting requirements.

Coordination with Other Leaves and Policies:An employer cannot require an employee to use other paid leave before the employee uses sick leave pursuant to the Healthy Workplaces Act. An employer with a paid time off policy that provides an amount of earned sick leave sufficient to meet the accrual requirements of the Healthy Workplaces Act and that canbe used for the same purposes and under the same terms and conditions is consideredin compliance. There are certain requirements for paid time off pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement.

Certification:Documentation may only be required ifsick leave has been used fortwo or more consecutive workdays. Acceptable forms ofdocumentation varyby leave reason.

What is FINEOS doing to prepare for the new law?

FINEOS Absencewill be prepared to support the job protection leave requirements of the New Mexico Paid Sick Leaveby the July 1, 2022 effectivedate.By investing in modern, agile absence management systems like the cloud-based FINEOS Platform, insurance carriers will be able to respond quickly to changes in legislation and remain in compliance.

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FINEOS Corporation Holdings plc published this content on 16 April 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 16 April 2021 18:40:02 UTC.