Before the minimum wage rate increased to $10.50 in 2021 and $9 in 2020, it had been set at $7.50 per hour since January 1, 2009.

Here are the individuals exempt from the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act:

• Individuals employed in domestic service in or about a private home
• Individuals employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, including forepersons, superintendents, and supervisors
• Individuals employed by the United States, the state, or any political subdivision of the state
• Individuals engaged in activities of an educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not exist or where services are rendered on a voluntary basis
• Salespersons or employees compensated on a piecework, flat rate, or commission basis
• Students regularly enrolled in primary or secondary schools working after school hours or during vacations
• Registered apprentices and learners as provided by law
• Persons 18 years of age or under who are not students in a primary, secondary, vocational, or training school
• Persons 18 years of age or under who are not graduates of a secondary school
• G.I. bill trainees while under training
• Seasonal employees of an employer holding a valid certificate issued annually by the director of the labor relations division of the workforce solutions department
• Employees employed in agriculture
• Employees engaged in the handling, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, or canning of any agricultural or horticultural commodity in its unmanufactured state
• Employees of charitable, religious, or nonprofit organizations who reside on the premises of group homes operated by such organizations for persons with mental, emotional, or developmental disabilities

Effective January 1, 2021, employers in New Mexico can pay tipped employees $2.55 per hour. However, if the employee’s total earnings, including tips, do not reach at least $10.50 per hour, the employer must make up the difference.

The New Mexico Child Labor Act restricts work hours for 14 and 15-year-olds as follows:

• Not before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. during the school year.
• Not before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m. outside the school year.
• Not during school hours, except for work experience and career exploration programs.
• No more than three hours per day on school days.
• No more than 18 hours per week during school weeks.

Additionally, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act imposes these restrictions during the school year:

• No more than eight hours per day on non-school days.
• No more than 40 hours per week during non-school weeks.