The Welcome Child & Family Wellness Leave Act

2 weeks ago

HB 11, the Paid Family Leave Act, has been amended and changed to the, “WELCOME CHILD AND FAMILY WELLNESS LEAVE ACT.” It has passed the House of Representatives and has been sent to the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee. The Act has been renamed to reflect broader coverage of benefits than what was introduced in the original proposed bill. Per the bill the ‘welcome child benefit” is defined as “(1) a refund for which one eligible applicant who is the parent of a biological or adopted child may apply and receive for the three months immediately after the birth or adoption of a child; and (2) up to twelve weeks of leave that is granted to allow the applicant to bond with a biological or adopted child within twelve months of the birth or adoption of a child.’

More specifically, in addition to the twelve weeks of leave for the birth or adoption of a child within one year of the qualifying event, the welcome child benefit provides a “…three-thousand-dollar ($3,000) welcome child refund, to be paid to one of the child’s parents each month for the three months immediately following the birth or adoption of the child…” This amount is to be adjusted upwards based on the consumer price index, if applicable, in future years.

The bill signifies rules are to be promulgated by July 1, 2026. The deductions are to begin July 1, 2027. If the Bill is passed, Family Wellness Leave is set to begin January 1, 2028. The initial deduction for employees has been decreased from the amount on the first proposed Bill to two tenths of a percent. The initial deduction for employers has also been reduced to fifteen-hundredths of a percent.

Per the Bill, “An eligible employee’s weekly family wellness leave benefits shall equal one hundred percent of the compensation that would be paid to a non-tipped, state-minimum wage-earning employee, pursuant to Section 50-4-22 NMSA 1978, working the same number of hours per week as the employee, plus sixty-seven percent of the employee’s average weekly wages greater than the non-tipped, state minimum wage compensation…”

For those of you who read last week’s article, there have been no changes to HB 246, Increase Minimum Wage, since our last report.

Southwestern HR Consulting (SWHRC) will continue monitoring HR related bills during this session. Contact SWHRC today at the link above to find out more about our services and our team of experts.