Why does my New Mexico pay stub show sick leave hours?

Because the state told employers that a paystub is an acceptable way to deliver the quarterly sick leave summary the Healthy Workplaces Act demands. The summary has to be accurate and year to date, covering hours worked, leave earned and leave used, and the underlying records must be kept for forty eight months.

What is the minimum wage in New Mexico in 2026?

Twelve dollars an hour across the state, with a tipped cash wage of three dollars, both in force since 1 January 2023. Several localities run higher rates and the state enforces whichever figure is highest, so where you work inside New Mexico changes what your employer owes you.

Is the Albuquerque minimum wage higher than the state rate?

No, and that is the oddity. The city calculates its own rate by consumer price index and landed on eleven dollars eighty five cents for 2026, below the state figure, so the city itself publishes twelve dollars as the prevailing wage. Where Albuquerque still binds is tipped work, at seven dollars twenty cents an hour.

Can my New Mexico employer deduct a uniform or a till shortage?

Only with a written authorization signed by both you and the employer, and only if the deduction does not push your net pay below the minimum wage. Taxes, social security and benefits that exist purely for your benefit are the exceptions allowed to cut into the minimum; anything else is not.

How soon do I get my final pay in New Mexico?

Faster than in most states. If the amount owed is fixed and definite, the employer has five days from discharge to pay it. Wages calculated by task, piece rate or commission take longer to work out and get ten days. Quitting instead of being discharged moves the money to the next regular payday.

Pay stub requirements in New Mexico

New Mexico has no statute of general application telling an employer what a wage statement must contain, and yet the paystub has become the standard way to satisfy a different obligation. The Healthy Workplaces Act requires every private employer to give employees an accurate year to date written summary of hours worked, sick leave earned and sick leave used at least once each calendar quarter, and the Department of Workforce Solutions states that employers providing that information on employee paystubs are compliant. Around that sit a twelve dollar state minimum wage, three separate local rates near Santa Fe and Albuquerque, and a rule that no deduction is lawful without an authorization signed by both sides.

Pay stub required: No general statute, but sick leave totals must be shown
Electronic delivery: Yes for the sick leave summary, and a paystub counts
Minimum wage (2026): $12.00/hour statewide, $15.40 around Santa Fe
Pay frequency: Semimonthly, monthly for executives and professionals

What New Mexico law requires

Sick leave totals are owed at least once a quarter, and a stub will do
Employers must provide employees with accurate year to date written summaries of their hours worked, sick leave earned and sick leave used at least once per calendar quarter. The department states plainly that employers who provide this information on employee paystubs will be compliant with the requirement, which is how a state without a wage statement statute ends up with detailed stubs.
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Those sick leave records are kept for forty eight months
Alongside the quarterly summary, an employer must retain records of each employee hours worked, sick leave earned and sick leave used for at least forty eight months from the date the record was created, and must give every employee written or electronic notice of their sick leave rights on hire. Posters in English, Spanish and Vietnamese are supplied by the department without charge.
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Twelve dollars statewide, three dollars for tipped staff
The Department of Workforce Solutions puts the state minimum wage at twelve dollars an hour effective 1 January 2023 and the tipped rate at three dollars an hour from the same date. It also warns employers that certain cities and counties enforce their own minimum wage and that the state will enforce the highest available rate.
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No deduction is lawful without a signed authorization
Taxes, social security and employee authorised benefits that only benefit the employee, such as health insurance premiums and retirement plans, may take net pay below the minimum wage. All other deductions may not. In every case, if there is no written authorization signed by the employee and the employer, the department treats the deduction as unlawful.
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The employer carries the burden of proving what it paid
The wage and hour rules place on the employer the burden of maintaining true and accurate time and pay records for all employees. Where an employer does not produce the records required by law, or where the division finds them inaccurate or incomplete, the Labor Relations Division calculates the wages due from the employee own records instead.
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Paydays are semimonthly, with a monthly exception at the top
The federal Wage and Hour Division records New Mexico in the semimonthly column of its table of state payday requirements, with a footnote allowing monthly paydays for executive, administrative and professional personnel. Final pay is faster: a fixed and definite amount is due within five days of discharge, and task, piece and commission wages within ten.
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Local rates above the New Mexico minimum

City of Santa Fe
The living wage inside the city limits is $15.40 an hour from 1 March 2026, applicable to all employers in the city. Employers may count tips for staff who customarily earn a hundred dollars a month or more in tips or commission and pay a base wage of three dollars, provided base plus tips reaches $15.40.
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Santa Fe County, unincorporated
The county living wage is also $15.40 an hour from 1 March 2026, with a tipped base wage of $4.62, and it is adjusted annually by the Western Region consumer price index. It applies outside the incorporated boundaries of Santa Fe, Espanola and Edgewood.
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City of Albuquerque
The city rate for 2026 is $11.85, which is below the state figure, so the city publishes $12.00 as the prevailing wage. The city tipped rate of $7.20, set at sixty per cent of the city minimum, is the one that actually binds Albuquerque employers.
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What this generator calculates for New Mexico

State withholding for New Mexico is calculated from the 2026 figures the state publishes, and our test suite holds those figures against the state's own published calculation rather than against arithmetic of ours. New Mexico also takes NM Workers' Compensation Fee out of the employee's pay. We do not calculate that, so the stub carries no line for it.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Wage and hour law changes. Check the linked source before relying on any figure here, and treat this page as a starting point rather than legal advice.

Pay stub requirements in New Mexico

What New Mexico law requires

Sick leave totals are owed at least once a quarter, and a stub will do

Those sick leave records are kept for forty eight months

Twelve dollars statewide, three dollars for tipped staff

No deduction is lawful without a signed authorization

The employer carries the burden of proving what it paid

Paydays are semimonthly, with a monthly exception at the top

Local rates above the New Mexico minimum

City of Santa Fe

Santa Fe County, unincorporated

City of Albuquerque