New Mexico requires a discharged employee's wages within five days of discharge (§50-4-4).
Law: N.M. Stat. Ann. §§50-4-4, 50-4-5 · Rules checked October 2026
If you quit, New Mexico caps the wait at ten days: the next regular payday or ten days after your last day, whichever is sooner (§50-4-5).
New Mexico continues a discharged employee's wages for up to 60 days when the five-day deadline is missed (§50-4-4) — the same 'still on the payroll' structure as Nevada, twice as long.
Your state lets the employer's own policy decide. If the handbook or your offer letter promises payout of accrued vacation — or the company has a practice of paying it — that promise is enforceable. If the policy says unused vacation is forfeited at separation, the state will generally hold you to it.
The free claim goes to New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions. It costs nothing and you do not need a lawyer; what you need is the amount computed, the demand already sent where your state rewards one, and the file assembled.
Filing window: set by state law and shorter than people expect — file within weeks, not months.
Compute your New Mexico verdict — free
General information from the published statute — not legal advice. Penalty figures elsewhere on this site are statutory maximums, with willfulness conditions named where the statute names them.