Governor Signs 12-Week Parental Leave Policy Into Law

SANTA FE – In one of her last acts of 2019, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order directing the State Personnel Office to establish a 12-week paid parental leave policy for all state employees under her purview, advancing her efforts to provide a family-friendly workplace in New Mexico state government.

It is the first time New Mexico’s state government has provided paid family leave.

“Ensuring that families have time to bond with and care for their children is incredibly important,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “That this was not in place for state employees before is a shame, and I am proud that we are making the situation right. New Mexico state government is committed to recruiting, retaining and supporting dedicated and talented employees to serve our neighbors all across the state. It’s important to me that we set a positive standard in state government, continuing to establish the state as family-friendly and taking action to ensure a healthy and responsible workplace for New Mexico state government families.”

The executive order stipulates that the statewide paid parental leave policy will provide for twelve weeks of fully paid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child, running concurrently with leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act as applicable.

The policy took effect as of January 1 and will be implemented at all state departments and agencies over which the governor has authority.

In the United State family leave is covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). However FMLA policies only provide for maternity leave, for the leave to be unpaid, and the rules only apply to companies who employ at least fifty staff.

The U.S. remains one of the only major nations in the world, and the only member of the influential Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) not to offer all of its citizens paid family leave.

Less than 1-in-5 of all states now offer some form of family leave in addition to FMLA, and there been no significant change in the proportion of U.S. women receiving maternity leave since the 1993 act became law.

It should also be noted that whilst New Mexico’s new regulation, as the FMLA, only provides for 12 weeks of leave. The World Health Organization continues to call for families to receive at least 16 weeks of leave per year, at minimum.

New Mexico state government was awarded a “Family Friendly” business award for the first time ever earlier this year, receiving the Platinum Seal from Family Friendly New Mexico, the highest honor offered by the nonprofit initiative that has been supporting and recognizing businesses that adopt family-friendly policies since 2015.

The state scored high in the categories of health support, work schedules, pay equity and diversity and inclusion, paid leave, economic support and community investment.

A copy of the Governor’s executive order can be viewed at: https://www.governor.state.nm.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Executive-Order-2019-036.pdf