2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 50 - Employment Law › Article 6 - Employment of Children › Section 50-6-4 - Prohibited occupations for children under sixteen; exceptions.

A. A child under the age of sixteen years shall not be employed or permitted to labor at any of the following occupations or in any of the following positions:
(1) on or around belted machines while in motion;
(2) on or around power-driven woodworking machines used for cutting, shaping, forming, surfacing, nailing, stapling, wire stitching, fastening or otherwise assembling, processing or printing wood or veneer;
(3) on or around power-driven hoisting apparatus with the exception that this section shall not prohibit the operation of an automatic elevator that is controlled by pushbuttons making leveling, holding, opening and closing of the car and hoistway doors entirely automatic;
(4) in or about plants, establishments or jobs using, manufacturing or storing explosives or articles containing explosive components;
(5) electronics jobs where the child is exposed to electrical hazards;
(6) in or about any establishment where malt or alcoholic beverages are manufactured, packed, wrapped or bottled;
(7) municipal firefighting whether using volunteers or paid employees;
(8) manufacture of goods for immoral purposes;
(9) in any employment dangerous to lives and limbs or injurious to the health or morals of children under the age of sixteen years; or
(10) soliciting door-to-door for other than a nonprofit organization or in other activities approved by the parent or guardian.
B. The provisions of this section do not apply to:
(1) children engaged in working with equipment in any school or place where cooperative education or science is taught while under supervision of an instructor;
(2) apprentices while under the supervision of a journeyman in a certified apprenticeship program; or
(3) children employed in a film or television production, where the set may be considered physically hazardous or special effects are used; provided that a New Mexico-certified trainer or technician accredited in a United States department of labor occupational safety and health administration-certified safety program specific to the film or television industry is present at all times that the child is exposed to the potentially hazardous condition.
C. Additional hazardous occupations not specifically listed in this section shall be determined by the state child labor inspector following consultation with the employer who wishes to employ minors over the age of fourteen years and under sixteen years of age.
History:
Laws 1925, ch. 79, § 5; C.S. 1929, § 80-110; 1941 Comp., § 57-505; Laws 1943, ch. 112, § 1; 1953 Comp., § 59-6-5; Laws 1973, ch. 115, § 4; 2007, ch. 257, § 7.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2007 amendment,
effective June 15, 2007, added Paragraph (10) of Subsection A; provided that this section does not apply to children in cooperative education or to apprentices; and added Paragraph (3) of Subsection B, relating to children employed in film or television productions.
Common-law remedy for illegally employed minor.
— The Workers' Compensation Act (Section 52-1-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.) contains no specific language bringing illegally employed minors within its terms, and so an illegally employed minor may pursue a common law action against his employer for injuries sustained during such employment.
Maynerich v. Little Bear Enters., Inc.
, 1971-NMCA-079, 82 N.M. 650, 485 P.2d 984.
Employment in violation of federal law still governed by Worker's Compensation Act.
— Suit for wrongful death of 16-year-old who died from injuries incurred while working for employer was barred because the case was governed by the Worker's Compensation Act, despite the fact that the employment of the child was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The legislature's legalization of employment for 16-year-old workers in this section reflects an intent that the exclusivity of the Worker's Compensation Act apply to such employment.
Boyd v. Permian Servicing Co.
, 1992-NMSC-013, 113 N.M. 321, 825 P.2d 611.