NMSA 21-22K-3. Certification of employment; hour multiplier;
AI-assisted research summary: A public service employer must credit certain adjunct or contingent faculty hours at a 4.35-to-1 multiplier for PSLF employment certification, and must apply related full-time and continuity rules when certifying employment.
21-22K-3. Certification of employment; hour multiplier; determination of full-time employment. A. For the purposes of certifying employment for the public service loan forgiveness program for employees who are former or current adjunct professors or contingent faculty at a post-secondary educational institution, a public service employer shall credit at least four and thirty-five hundredths hours worked for each hour of credit or classroom contact time, regardless of when the hours are worked, including hours worked on or after October 1, 2007. The provisions of this subsection shall not supersede any greater adjustment factor established by a collective bargaining agreement or employer policy in recognition of additional work associated with lecture or classroom time for the purpose of the public service loan forgiveness program and shall have no other applicability for public service employers and employees. B. When determining whether an employee is considered full-time, for the purpose of certifying employment for the public service loan forgiveness program only, a public service employer shall not treat any adjusted total hours worked pursuant to this section differently from hours worked without an adjustment factor. C. For the purpose of certifying employment only, a public service employer shall: (1) consider as full-time, as necessary, any employee who satisfies the definition of "full-time" pursuant to Subsection C of Section 2 [21-22K-2 NMSA 1978] of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Multiplier Act; and (2) treat as a continuous employment period any consecutive academic terms for which an employee teaches, regardless of whether such hours are taught pursuant to separate employment contracts and regardless of whether such academic terms are separated by routine academic vacation, but only to the extent that doing so maximizes the amount of time for which an employee's employment can be considered full-time. D. A public service employer shall adopt a policy of maximizing the amount of time for which an employee's employment can be considered full-time. Nothing in this section shall require a public service employee to increase the number of contracted hours for which the employee is paid. E. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, should the United States department of education promulgate rules related to the calculation of hours worked for the purposes of certifying employment for the public service loan forgiveness program that are more favorable to employees than those requirements provided herein, those rules shall govern. History: Laws 2025, ch. 90, § 3.