Skip to main content

Updated: New Mexico Legislature Compromises On Competing Minimum Wage Bills


Earlier last month, the New Mexico House and Senate compromised and agreed on a minimum wage hike for hourly workers in the state.

Readers will recall that there were two "competing" minimum wage bills working their way through the New Mexico Legislature this session:  House Bill 31 (which would raise the state's hourly minimum wage rate to $12/hour by 2021 and tied to the inflation rate and increased thereafter) and Senate Bill 437 (which would raise the state's hourly minimum wage rate to $10/hour by next April, but not have any inflation adjustments).  While House Bill 31 had the support of many advocacy groups and union representatives, Senate Bill 437 enjoyed the support of chambers of commerce and business groups in the state.  One of the key areas of contention, besides the different wage rates, was the fact that Senate Bill 437 did not have the inflation adjustment.

A few weeks ago, after much debate and disagreement over the competing bills, a compromised was reached in which the state's current hourly wage rate of $7.25/hour will increase to $9.00/hour in January 202, $10.50/hour in January 2021, $11.50/hour in January 2022, and $12.00/hour in January 2023.  There will be no increase for inflation.  Readers will note that this compromise mirrors the initial wording of Senate Bill 437, whereas House Bill 31 was "abandoned" for all intents and purposes.

On March 8, the Senate approved Senate Bill 437 with a 27 - 15 vote in favor.  On March 13, the House approved Senate Bill 437 with a 43 - 21 vote in favor (with 2 "excused" votes and 4 "absent" votes).  At this point, the legislation moves to Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk for signature (or veto).  While some reports indicated the Governor wanted the inflation adjustment to be a part of any minimum wage legislation, this end result is a pretty good compromise that I would be surprised if she did not sign.  With that being said, until the Governor puts pen to paper, this minimum wage hike hangs in limbo.


For a copy of the amended language of Senate Bill 437:  https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/Amendments_In_Context/SB0437.pdf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more