New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 1 - GENERAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION › Chapter 7 - WASTEWATER AND WATER SUPPLY FACILITIES › Part 7 - ABSENCE AND LEAVE › Section 1.7.7.12 - FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. In
				addition to other leave provided for in 1.7.7 NMAC eligible employees are
				entitled to leave in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of
				1993, as amended. Employees who have been in the classified service for at
				least 12 months (which need not be consecutive) and who have worked, as defined
				by Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act, at least 1250 hours during the
				12-month period immediately preceding the start of FMLA leave are eligible
				employees. In addition, employment in the exempt service, legislative or
				judicial branch, shall count as classified employment for purposes of this
				rule.
B. An eligible employee is
				entitled to a total of 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave in a 12-month period for
				the birth and care of a newborn child of the employee within one year of the
				birth; the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care
				and the care of the newly placed child within one year of placement; the care
				of the employee's child, parent, spouse, or domestic partner who has a serious
				health condition; and the employee's own serious health condition that makes
				the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job; or any
				other qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the spouse, domestic
				partner, son, daughter or parent of the employee is on covered active duty or
				has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty status,
				as defined in the FMLA regulations, including issues resulting from
				short-notice deployment, military events and related activities, childcare and
				school activities for the military member's child, financial and legal
				arrangements to address the military member's absence while on covered active
				duty, counseling, spending time with the military member while on short-term
				leave, post-deployment activities, care of the military member's parent who is
				incapable of self-care, and other activities in accordance with the FMLA
				regulations. The 12-month period is calculated forward from the date an
				employee's first FMLA leave begins.
C. An eligible employee who is the spouse,
				domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service
				member with a serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty on active
				duty is entitled to up to 26 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave in a single 12-month
				period to care for the service member. This military caregiver leave is
				available during a single 12-month period during which an eligible employee is
				entitled to a combined total of 26 weeks of all types of FMLA leave. The
				12-month period is calculated forward from the date an employee's first FMLA
				leave begins.
D. An employee may
				elect, or an agency may require the employee, to substitute any of the
				employee's accrued annual leave, accrued sick leave, personal leave day,
				accrued compensatory time, or donated leave for any part of unpaid FMLA
				leave.
E. If a paid holiday occurs
				within a week of FMLA leave, the holiday is counted towards the FMLA
				entitlement. However, if an employee is using FMLA in increments less than one
				week, the holiday does not count against the employee's FMLA entitlement unless
				the employee was otherwise scheduled and expected to work during the
				holiday.
F. Employees shall not
				accrue annual and sick leave while on unpaid FMLA leave.
G. Agencies shall post the required FMLA
				notices, maintain the required employee records, and implement agency policies
				in accordance with the FMLA. All medical records and correspondence relating to
				employees and/or their families shall be considered confidential in accordance
				with
				1.7.1.12
				NMAC.
H. Disputes over the
				administration of this rule shall be forwarded to the director for
				resolution.
I. As a condition for
				restoring an employee whose own serious health condition required FMLA leave,
				an agency may require the employee to provide certification from their health
				care provider that the employee is able to resume work. The fitness-for-duty
				certification may only pertain to the specific health condition that required
				FMLA leave.