A. Except as provided in Subsection B or D of this section, an employer shall pay to an employee a minimum wage rate of:

(1) prior to January 1, 2020, at least seven dollars fifty cents ($7.50) an hour;

(2) beginning January 1, 2020 and prior to January 1, 2021, at least nine dollars ($9.00) an hour;

(3) beginning January 1, 2021 and prior to January 1, 2022, at least ten dollars fifty cents ($10.50) an hour;

(4) beginning January 1, 2022 and prior to January 1, 2023, at least eleven dollars fifty cents ($11.50) an hour; and

(5) on and after January 1, 2023, at least twelve dollars ($12.00) an hour.

B. On and after January 1, 2020, an employer who employs a student regularly enrolled in secondary school to work after school hours or when school is not in session shall pay the student a minimum wage rate of at least eight dollars fifty cents ($8.50) an hour unless the student is employed pursuant to Subsection D of this section, in which case the provisions of that subsection shall apply to the student. In each case, the employer shall follow the provisions of the Child Labor Act [Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978], and Subsection E of this section shall not apply to the student.

C. An employer furnishing food, utilities, supplies or housing to an employee who is engaged in agriculture may deduct the reasonable value of such furnished items from any wages due to the employee.

D. An employee who customarily and regularly receives more than thirty dollars ($30.00) a month in tips shall be paid a minimum hourly wage as follows:

(1) prior to January 1, 2020, at least two dollars thirteen cents ($2.13) an hour;

(2) beginning January 1, 2020 and prior to January 1, 2021, at least two dollars thirty-five cents ($2.35) an hour;

(3) beginning January 1, 2021 and prior to January 1, 2022, at least two dollars fifty-five cents ($2.55) an hour;

(4) beginning January 1, 2022 and prior to January 1, 2023, at least two dollars eighty cents ($2.80) an hour;

(5) on and after January 1, 2023, at least three dollars ($3.00) an hour; and

(6) the employer may consider tips as part of wages, but the tips combined with the employer's cash wage shall not equal less than the minimum wage rate as provided in Subsection A of this section. All tips received by such employees shall be retained by the employee, except that nothing in this section shall prohibit the pooling of tips among wait staff.

E. An employee shall not be required to work more than forty hours in any week of seven days, unless the employee is paid one and one-half times the employee's regular hourly rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of forty hours. For an employee who is paid a fixed salary for fluctuating hours and who is employed by an employer a majority of whose business in New Mexico consists of providing investigative services to the federal government, the hourly rate may be calculated in accordance with the provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the regulations pursuant to that act; provided that in no case shall the hourly rate be less than the federal minimum wage.

History: 1953 Comp., § 59-3-22, enacted by Laws 1955, ch. 200, § 3; 1957, ch. 161, § 1; 1963, ch. 227, § 3; 1965, ch. 121, § 2; 1967, ch. 188, § 2; 1973, ch. 392, § 2; 1975 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 2; 1979, ch. 269, § 2; 1983, ch. 59, § 1; 1993, ch. 217, § 1; 1999, ch. 164, § 1; 2003, ch. 262, § 1; 2005, ch. 302, § 1; 2005, ch. 306, § 1; 2007, ch. 47, § 2; 2019, ch. 114, § 2.

The 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, raised the minimum wage, and provided a separate minimum wage for employed secondary school students; deleted former Subsection A and added new Subsections A and B and redesignated former Subsections B through D as Subsections C through E, respectively; in Subsection D, in the introductory clause, after "hourly wage", deleted "of two dollars thirteen cents ($2.13). The" and added "as follows", added Paragraphs D(1) through D(5) and new paragraph designation "(6)", and in Paragraph D(6), after "pooling of tips among", deleted "employees" and added "wait staff".