HOUSE MEMORIAL 108

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Bealquin Bill Gomez

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION ADMINISTRATION TO CLARIFY THAT INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS AND INDEPENDENT CONTRACT LABORERS ARE NOT DEEMED EMPLOYEES OF FARMS AND RANCHES REQUIRING WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE PURSUANT TO THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT, BUT FALL UNDER THE EXEMPTIONS FOR FARM AND RANCH WORKERS OUTLINED IN THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT.

     WHEREAS, workers' compensation insurance coverage became the law in New Mexico in 1929; and

     WHEREAS, farm and ranch workers are not mentioned in that law; and

     WHEREAS, farm and ranch workers were specifically exempted in the 1939 amendment to the Workers' Compensation Act; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature has retained that exemption in every amendment to workers' compensation statutes since 1939; and

     WHEREAS, farm and ranch work is seasonal, with many farm and ranch laborers working temporarily, sometimes for as little as a day, at a farm or ranch; and

     WHEREAS, farm and ranch workers migrate from farm to farm and ranch to ranch with a high rate of turnover, making it difficult to track workers and substantiate the source and cause of an illness or injury or even to treat injuries; and

     WHEREAS, food products are subject to the vagaries of weather and to the limitations of federal commodities pricing, making it difficult or impossible for employers to reasonably assess on a seasonal basis their farm and ranch costs, income, labor needs and insurance needs; and

     WHEREAS, farm and ranch workers are often family members or neighbors who trade labor with no payroll incurred, yet the workers' compensation administration is requiring insurance coverage on these individuals; and

     WHEREAS, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates that everyone in the United States be covered by health insurance; and

     WHEREAS, farm and ranch lending institutions require their borrowers to maintain liability insurance to cover work injuries; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico statutes are filled with exemptions for a wide variety of groups, including veterans, seniors, acequias, domestic workers and many others;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the workers' compensation administration be requested to clarify that family members, unpaid neighbors, independent contractors and independent contract laborers are not deemed employees of farms and ranches, thus requiring workers' compensation coverage pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act, but fall under the exemptions for farm and ranch workers outlined in the Workers' Compensation Act; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the workers' compensation administration report to the appropriate interim committee of the legislature by December 1, 2016; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the workers' compensation administration.

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