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How do I file a complaint?

There are two ways:

  • Online at https://www.dws.state.nm.us/NMPaidSickLeave. About a third of the way down on the left side are links to the online Healthy Workplaces Act Complaint Form in English and Spanish. About a third of the way down on the right side are links to download a form, which you can fill out, physically sign, and then mail, email, fax, or drop-off to our offices in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. You can also drop off the form at any Workforce Connections office around the state.

  • In-person at any Labor Relation Division office or New Mexico Workforce Connection Center for help in obtaining and/or filling out a paper form, which you can then sign and leave with staff, or take the form home and later mail, email, fax, or drop it off at these locations.

Who can paid sick leave be used for?

Employees or their immediate family member. A family member means an employee’s spouse or domestic partner or a person related to an employee or an employee’s spouse or domestic partner as:

  • a biological, adopted or foster child, a stepchild or legal ward, or a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis;

  • a biological, foster, step or adoptive parent or legal guardian, or a person who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a minor child;

  • a grandparent;

  • a grandchild;

  • a biological, foster, step or adopted sibling;

  • a spouse or domestic partner of a family member; or

  • an individual whose close association with the employee or the employee's spouse or domestic partner is the equivalent of a family relationship.


What can paid sick leave be used for?

An employee may use earned sick leave:

  • for the employee's:


    1. mental or physical illness, injury or health condition;

    2. medical diagnosis, care or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; or

    3. preventive medical care;


  • for care of family members of the employee for the same reasons as above;

  • for meetings at the employee's child's school or place of care related to the child's health or disability; or

  • for absence necessary due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking suffered by the employee or a family member of the employee, provided that the leave is for the employee to:


    1. obtain medical or psychological treatment or other counseling;

    2. relocate;

    3. prepare for or participate in legal proceedings; or

    4. obtain services or assist a family member of the employee with any of the activities set forth in Subparagraphs (1) through (3) of this paragraph.



How is paid sick leave earned?

This is up to the employer. The employer could choose to grant an employee 64 hours at the beginning of the year, or they can provide one hour for every thirty hours worked throughout the year. You should contact your employer’s human resources department for more information.

If I run out of sick leave, is my employer allowed to issue disciplinary action if I were to call in sick again?

If you have no more accrued sick leave available, your request for sick leave no longer falls under the Healthy Workplaces Act and its protections. Whether your employer will issue disciplinary action will be determined by the employer’s policy. You should contact your employer’s HR Department or consult the employer’s policies to determine what, if any, disciplinary actions may be issued.

Does paid sick leave get paid out upon separation?

The Act does not require earned sick leave to be paid out upon an employee’s separation, however, an employer may have a policy that allows it. Employees who do receive payout of some or all their unused leave upon separation will be deemed to have used that leave. Those employees will not be eligible to have this leave restored if they return to the company within 12 months.

What happens if an employee does not have enough accrued paid sick leave to cover their entire absence from work?

The employer is only responsible to pay for paid sick leave accrued under the Healthy Workplaces Act. If an employee takes more sick leave than the paid sick leave hours accrued, the employer is not required to pay for these additional hours, unless otherwise provided for in the employer’s policies. Additionally, an employee may be disciplined according to an employer’s policy for any hours they are absent from work for which they do not have accrued paid sick leave to use or some other type of leave that could appropriately cover the absence. Employees should contact their employer’s HR Department or consult the employer’s policies for further information.
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