The New Mexico Senate enacted legislation earlier this year that would eliminate a provision in the state's minimum-wage law that required high school students to be paid less per hour than adult employees, according to a report by Bloomberg Tax.
Senate Bill 35 (SB 35) was signed into law on March 18 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and took effect on June 18.
"A job's compensation should not be defined by the age of the employee," Sen. Katy Duhigg tweeted on June 10. "Eliminating the 'lower student wage' ensures that no person's wages are capped because of their age."
The Minimum Pay Act of 2019 authorized an increase to $10.50 an hour at the start of this year that would eventually increase to $12 in 2023; however, it also included an $8.50 maximum-wage restriction for high school students, which SB 35 would remove, according to a report by the Las Cruces Sun News.
"High school students are contributing the same way as everyone else,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces), told the Sun News. “They’re doing the same work as their older colleagues next to them in line. They are essential workers at this critical time.”
While the bill requires companies to pay regularly enrolled high school students the state's $10.50 hourly minimum wage, it still maintains the minimum-wage exemption for non-students under the age of 19.
Opponents of the law claimed that any employee who could demonstrate reliability and show up on time each day would immediately get a pay raise; additionally, they argued that for many young workers, the chance to get job experience is more valuable than money.
“There was a reason why we did this before, and that was to allow people to get into the job market and learn job skills,” Sen. William Sharer (R-Farmington) told the Sun News. “This is an advantage to them. If you raise the minimum wage for the folks who are trying to get in, what you’re going to do is keep them out.”
Sen. Craig Brandt (R-Rio Rancho) also argued that it was reasonable to pay high school students less since their work hours and activities are more restricted.
The minimum age for employment is currently 14 under state and federal labor laws, and state law permits exemptions for newspaper carriers, minors working in the entertainment sector, and minors employed by their parents in non-hazardous industries.
Additionally, they are restricted to working between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except during the summer, when nighttime hours are extended to 9 p.m.; they are also not permitted to operate near heavy machinery, explosives, electrical risks, alcohol manufacture or in door-to-door sales.
