labor lawAdivision of labor law center

New Mexico’s minimum wage hike for 2009 was the largest single increase in any state for January, 2009.

 

According to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, the New Mexico minimum wage increased  $1.00 an hour on January 1, 2009, from $6.50 an hour to $7.50 an hour. Minimum wage for overtime for most employees will be $11.25 an hour.

 

The New Mexico law has its share of exceptions. For example, seasonal employees in some counties are not under the protection of the minimum wage laws, nor are employees of cotton gins. Typically, both the overtime and the minimum wage laws are not applicable to genuine executives, administrators, professionals, supervisors, and superintendents.

 

Any employer who has not updated his or her New Mexico minimum wage poster should do so now.

 

Certain workers who are hired to perform investigative work for the federal government are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, otherwise known as the FLSA. State law exempts them from the overtime law, which requires that employees working more than 40 hours a week must be paid 1.5 times their regular rate for their overtime. Nevertheless, they are still entitled to the federal minimum wage, at the least.

 

The minimum wage in New Mexico, incidentally, does not cover those workers under 18 who have not graduated from high school. It is a seldom-utilized and little-known aspect of New Mexico labor law.

 

A fair number of other positions are not under the protection of the New Mexico minimum wage regulations. They include domestic service workers for a private home, agricultural workers, and federal employees. Volunteers who work for religious, charitable, educational, and non-profit groups are, naturally, not covered. Students working during vacation or after school are not under the protective umbrella of the minimum wage laws of New Mexico.

 

According to the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act, employers need only pay tipped workers $2.13 an hour, provided those workers “customarily” and “regularly” get more than $30 worth of tips per month. If the worker does not receive an average of $5.37 an hour in tips during a pay period, then the employer must make up the difference by paying a larger wage.

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