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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR McSorely

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/12/2007

2/25/2007 HB

SHORT TITLE Family Leave Act

SB 597/aSJC

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

State Personnel Office (SPO)

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Attorney Generals Office (AGO)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SJC Amendment

Senate Judiciary Committee Amendment to Senate Bill 597 clarifies that the Bill will apply in

cases where existing “written" polices of the employer exists with respect to sick leave and other

forms of time off.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 597 requires an employer to grant paid or unpaid family leave to an employee to care

for family members as defined in the law. It also prohibits discharge or retaliation against

employees who exercise the rights defined in this law. This law expands coverage provided

under the federal Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 by providing additional rights at the state

level.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This bill may have a financial impact to small employers within the state of New Mexico. It is

Senate Bill 597/aSJC – Page

2

difficult to calculate this impact.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This legislation expands the scope of coverage provided under the federal Family Leave Act of

1993 by giving additional rights to employees within New Mexico and without defining the

terms and conditions of the coverage, rights and responsibilities of the parties. The federal

government in establishing the Family Medical Leave Act recognized that the law could be

detrimental to the operations of a small business. Senate Bill 597:

•

expands coverage to all employers in New Mexico regardless of size in addition to

including parent-in-laws as a covered family member.

•

provides coverage immediately upon employment as compared to the federal law which

states that employees must have worked for the employer for at least 1250 hours in the

prior twelve months to be covered. The State Personnel Office (SPO) states that this bill

provides no minimum time limit that an employee must have worked for the employer in

order to qualify. An employee could potentially work for one day and then request this

leave, whereas leaving the employer in an unfavorable employment obligation with an

employee.

•

does not indicate a maximum amount of time stated that an employee can be out. SPO

offers that this may leave the employer in an unfavorable employment obligation

regarding the employee.

•

does allow for the use of sick leave or other paid leave but does not authorize or

recognize the use of unpaid leave such as leave without pay. These leaves would by

governed by the employer’s policies or a collective bargaining agreement.

•

could have a significant impact on small employers with limited staffing.

•

uses the term “serious health condition" without defining the term. The federal Family

Medical Leave Act (FMLA) goes to great depth in explaining this term because of its

significance to both the employee and the employer.

•

does not speak with regard to Section 3, Prohibition of Discharge to the ability of the

employee to perform the essential functions of the job or the length of time that the

employer must continue to employ individuals unable to perform their jobs. This could

effectively hamper the employer’s ability to effectively deal with work demands and

unique situations.

ALTERNATIVES

SPO suggests that amendments could be developed which:

•

Add language requiring some minimum amount of time of employment such as 180 days

at a minimum.

•

Add language to address a maximum amount of time that the employee can take off such

as one year.

•

Add language to address “un-paid" leave to be substituted for paid leave in case no leave

is offered or the paid leave runs out and the employee still needs care for a qualified

family member.

An additional change may be to define terms so that they carry the same definition and

requirements as within the FMLA.

GM/nt