New Mexico proposes cash for state workers’ skipped vacation

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is proposing extra pay worth up to two weeks of salary for longtime state employees under her oversight who skimped on vacation in 2020 amid the pandemic.

The State Personnel Board is scheduled to consider approval Friday of pay for rank-and-file executive-branch employees and political appointees with large balances of vacation that might otherwise expire.

Under ordinary circumstances, state employees lose without payment any unused leave in excess of 240 hours at the end of the calendar year.

The proposal arrives as Lujan Grisham ramps up her campaign for reelection.