2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 50 - Employment Law
Article 17 - Healthy Workplaces
Section 50-17-5 - Documentation. (Effective July 1, 2022.)
A. Documentation shall not be required for sick leave, except an employer may require reasonable documentation that sick leave has been used for a covered purpose if the employee uses two or more consecutive work days of sick leave.
B. Documentation signed by a health care professional indicating the amount of earned sick leave taken is necessary shall be considered reasonable documentation for sick leave taken pursuant to the Healthy Workplaces Act. In cases of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking, an employee may choose to provide one of the following types of documentation, which shall be considered as reasonable documentation: a police report, a court-issued document or a signed statement from a victim services organization, clergy member, attorney, advocate, the employee, a family member of the employee or other person affirming that the sick leave was taken for one of the purposes set forth in Paragraph (4) of Subsection C of Section 3 [50-17-3 NMSA 1978] of the Healthy Workplaces Act. A signed statement required pursuant to this subsection may be written in the employee's native language and shall not be required to be in a particular format or notarized. An employer may not require the documentation to explain the nature of any medical condition or the details of the domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking.
C. An employee shall provide documentation upon request to the employer in a timely manner. The employer shall not delay the commencement of earned sick leave on the basis that the employer has not yet received documentation.
D. All information an employer obtains related to an employee's reasons for taking sick leave shall be treated as confidential and not disclosed except with the permission of the employee or as necessary for validation purposes for insurance disability claims, accommodations consistent with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as required by the Healthy Workplaces Act or by court order.
History: Laws 2021, ch. 131, § 5.
ANNOTATIONSEffective dates. — Laws 2021, ch. 131, § 13 made Laws 2021, ch. 131, § 5 effective July 1, 2022.
