- Michelle Lujan Grisham
Governor - Dylan K. Lange
Director - Cynthia Sandoval
Deputy Director
- State Personnel Board
- David F. Cunningham, Chair
- Carol A. Parker, Vice Chair
- Kari Fresquez, Member
- Sandra D. Lopez, Member
- Fred Radosevich, Member
Address: 2600 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505-3258
Phone: (505) 476-7759 | Fax: (505) 605-4981 | Web: https://www.spo.state.nm.us/
General Memorandum 2025-010
Date:
August 20, 2025To:
Cabinet Secretaries, Agency Heads, Human Resource ManagersFrom:
Dylan K. Lange, Director
Subject:
Longevity Pay ProgramState employee recruitment and retention is essential to both the State and to New Mexican’s that rely on the many services the State provides. The addition of longevity pay for state employees will help with both and signals that the State values continuous state service.
Effective September 1, 2025, the Executive Branch of the state will increase the Longevity Pay Program, to be paid out in equal increments on the employee’s regularly scheduled payday for the remainder of the fiscal year. The total amount of Longevity Pay will be paid based on the following milestones:
| Years of Continuous Service | Annual Longevity Payment |
|---|---|
| 5-9 Years | $700 |
| 10-14 Years | $1,500 |
| 15-20 Years | $1,900 |
| 20 Years and Above | $2,100 |
Covered Employees
Longevity pay will be paid to all applicable incumbent classified employees, New Mexico state police in the career pay system, and executive branch exempt employees. See General Appropriations Act of 2025, § 8, H.B. 2, 57th Leg. (N.M. 2025). Longevity pay is not available to EXOT, temporary employees, or probationary employees.
An agreement has also been reached with Union covered employees in Executive Branch state service for this Longevity Pay Program. The Memorandum of Understanding is attached.
Continuous State Service
“Continuous Service” means the employee’s length of service from the most recent date of hire/rehire with the State to the present, with no break in state employment. Employee’s utilization of military leave or worker’s compensation leave does not represent a break in state employment. Continuous service would include employees who served in the Judicial or Legislative Branches prior to joining Executive Branch employment, provided there was no break in state employment.
If an employee voluntarily or involuntarily separates from state employment in the executive branch or takes state employment in a different branch of government, the longevity payment terminates at the end of that pay period. Upon separation, the employee has no right to the remaining amount of longevity pay for that fiscal year. However, an employee who starts a pay period will be eligible for longevity pay at the end of that pay period whether the employee worked the entire pay period or not.
DFA has calculated employees impacted and the increased longevity pay will appear on paychecks beginning September 19, 2025. Longevity pay is not a general wage increase and will be separate from the employee’s base pay.
This Memorandum supersedes General Memorandum 2025-004: Longevity Pay, and its continued applicability is subject to Legislative appropriation.