Purpose

To establish guidelines that govern leave usage for purposes of inclement weather affecting the starting and ending times of a workday or the closure of State facilities. The following procedures will be followed regarding announcements of office delays or closures due to inclement weather.

Applicability

All classified and exempt employees in the Executive Branch of New Mexico State Government.

Policy

During inclement weather, it is the responsibility of the individual employee to report to work as close as possible to normal work time, as the nature of the work and services State government provides, in the majority of cases, prohibits the curtailment of these services.

• All employees must defer to and follow their respective agency's policies and procedures, as well as their chain of command, for all communication related to inclement weather.
• State facilities and employees who provide health and safety services for the State (“essential employees”) must remain in service during inclement weather https://www.spo.state.nm.us/ General Memorandum 2024-008 Inclement Weather page 2 conditions. It is the responsibility of Cabinet Secretaries, Agency Heads, or their designees to determine which employees are essential employees and are required to report to work during inclement weather based upon the employees’ function within their respective departments.
• Essential employees are required to report to work as directed by their agency or department.
• Essential employees will remain at their regular pay rate and will not be granted future credit of administrative leave hours unless department or agency policies and procedures provide otherwise.
• Employees who are not required to report to work during inclement weather (“nonessential employees”) will be granted administrative leave for the amount of time of any authorized delay of the start of the workday, early closing of State facilities, or staggered release times of employees, as provided in the procedure section below.
• Non-essential employees who are already on approved leave when a delay, closure, or early dismissal occurs may not substitute administrative leave for approved leave during the delay or closure.
• For the purposes of this policy, a “remote learning day” will only be considered a school closure if it is called due to inclement weather in a school district.
• All State employees should stay tuned to school district announcements on radio, television stations, websites, emails, and texts, so they are aware of relevant State facility delays and closures. If school is not in session, such as during winter break, the State Personnel Office will announce delays or closures on its website for Albuquerque and Santa Fe facilities. Delays and closures for facilities outside of Santa Fe and Albuquerque, when school is not in session, will be announced by Cabinet Secretaries, Agency Heads, or designees.

Procedure

The following outlines the procedure for any delays or closures due to inclement weather:

1. State Facilities

   State facilities will follow the inclement weather delays/closures/early dismissals of the school district where they are located. For example, if Santa Fe Public Schools (“SFPS”) delays opening or closes early, State facilities in Santa Fe will do likewise; if SFPS closes for an entire day, State facilities in Santa Fe will do likewise.

2. Employees

   Non-essential employees will follow the inclement weather delays or closures of the school district of their primary residence (“hometown”), regardless of where the employees are normally assigned to work (“duty station”). For example, if an employee’s duty station is open, but the employee’s hometown school district is delayed/closed, the employee will be granted administrative leave for the amount of time of the employee’s hometown school district delay/closure to allow for the employee’s safe travel to and from work. If an employee’s duty station is delayed or closed, but their hometown school district is open, the employee will be granted administrative leave for the amount of time of the employee’s duty location school delay/closure, again, to allow for the employee’s safe travel to and from work. Essential employees are required to report to work as directed by their agency or department.

Memorandum 2024-008 supersedes previous versions of Inclement Weather Policies and Procedures