Staffing agency license in New Mexico: no agency license, but leasing rules
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New Mexico does not license employment agencies, executive search firms or temporary staffing companies. Its old employment agency statutes were repealed decades ago. The state law that does reach staffing firms is the Employee Leasing Act, which requires employee leasing contractors to register with the Regulation and Licensing Department, and which contains a rule many temp firms do not expect: temporary workers in construction and oil and gas well service or drilling classifications are pulled into the act.
This page covers the absence of an agency license, the Employee Leasing Act and its construction and oil field presumptions, health care staffing, and the employer accounts a New Mexico staffing firm needs. For other states, see employment agency license requirements.
Not legal advice. This summarizes NMSA 1978 Chapter 60, Article 13A, and the Regulation and Licensing Department's Employee Leasing Program FAQ, as of October 2026. Where I could not confirm something from a New Mexico source, I say so. Confirm your position with the department or counsel.
No employment agency license
New Mexico once regulated employment agencies under former NMSA 1978 §§ 61-22-1 to 61-22-16. A 2020 comparison of state employment agency laws, compiled by South Carolina's Secretary of State for a legislative oversight committee, records that Laws 1981, chapter 241, § 35 repealed those sections effective April 8, 1981, and lists New Mexico among the states without an employment agency licensing requirement. I could not open New Mexico's own compilation note to confirm the chapter citation, but I found no current New Mexico statute licensing employment agencies as of October 2026.
So there is no state license, bond, fee schedule filing or statutory fee cap for direct-hire placement, retained or contingency search, or temporary staffing. Contract law and general consumer protection law still apply, which matters most if you charge candidates anything. Most firms avoid the issue by charging only employers.
What applies, by business model
| Model | State filing as of October 2026 | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Direct hire or executive search | None specific to recruiting | Candidate fee terms |
| Temporary staffing, office or light industrial | None specific to staffing | Meeting the "temporary services employer" functions |
| Temporary staffing in construction or oil and gas classes | Employee Leasing Act compliance | Presumption in § 60-13A-2 |
| Long-term employee leasing (PEO) | Registration with the Employee Leasing Program | $1,000 a year, $100,000 bond |
The Employee Leasing Act
The Employee Leasing Act, NMSA 1978 §§ 60-13A-1 through 60-13A-14, says no person may do business in New Mexico as an employee leasing contractor unless registered with the department. The program sits in the Regulation and Licensing Department. A 2018 bill, House Bill 153, proposed moving it to the Workforce Solutions Department, but the department's current FAQ still describes the Employee Leasing Program as part of the Regulation and Licensing Department.
Definitions that decide coverage
As the definitions section, § 60-13A-2, read when it was reprinted in House Bill 153 (2018):
- An "employee leasing arrangement" is any arrangement in which a client contracts with an employee leasing contractor to provide leased workers, but it "does not include temporary workers."
- A "temporary services employer" is an employing unit that negotiates with clients over time, place, type of work, conditions, quality and price; determines assignments (workers may refuse); keeps the authority to reassign or refuse to reassign a worker a client rejects; assigns the worker; sets the rate of pay; and pays the worker directly. All six functions are listed.
- A "temporary worker" is a worker employed or provided by a temporary services employer to support or supplement another's workforce in special situations such as absences, temporary skill shortages, seasonal workloads and special temporary assignments, including film, television and commercial media production.
The construction and oil and gas presumptions
Two provisos change the picture for some temp firms. If a worker "works and should be classified in any construction class or in any oil and gas well service or drilling class" under the New Mexico Insurance Code, then:
- a worker provided through a leasing arrangement is presumed to be a leased worker; and
- a worker employed or provided by a temporary services employer is presumed to be a temporary worker, "and the temporary services employer that provides the worker shall comply with the provisions of the Employee Leasing Act."
In plain terms, a temp firm placing workers in construction or oil field classifications should plan to comply with the act's registration and its workers' compensation and bonding requirements, even though its office and light industrial temps are outside it. Because I read the definitions as reprinted in a 2018 bill rather than in the current official compilation, confirm the current text with the department before relying on it.
The trigger is the worker's insurance classification, not the job title on the order. A practical first step is to ask your workers' compensation carrier or broker which class codes your New Mexico placements fall under. A "general laborer" placed with a pipeline contractor or a "helper" sent to a drilling site may carry a construction or well service code even if your order system calls it light industrial. If any do, treat those placements as inside the act, and expect oil field and construction clients to ask for your registration certificate before they onboard you.
The six-function test also matters for firms that are temps in name only. If the client sets pay, picks the workers and the arrangement runs indefinitely, the firm looks less like a temporary services employer and more like a leasing contractor. See worker misclassification for staffing agencies and joint employer liability for staffing agencies for how these lines get tested.
Registration requirements
The Employee Leasing Program's FAQ lists:
- Fee. $1,000 for initial registration, payable to the Employee Leasing Program, and an annual renewal fee of $1,000.
- Bond. A $100,000 surety bond, with power of attorney, naming the state, or a $100,000 cash bond.
- Renewal. Annually, by the end of the registration anniversary month. Late renewals carry a $500 penalty on top of the fee, and registrations not renewed within 30 days after the renewal date are cancelled.
- Attachments. A certificate of workers' compensation insurance and the surety bond, both naming the State of New Mexico/Employee Leasing as holder, and a certificate from the Public Regulation Commission or Secretary of State with the articles of incorporation.
Health care staffing and other categories
- Nurse and health care staffing agencies: no registration statute found as of October 2026. The Department of Health licenses facilities, not the agencies that staff them.
- Film and media production: temporary workers on motion picture, television and commercial media projects are expressly within the temporary worker definition, which keeps production staffing outside the leasing act unless a construction or oil field classification applies.
Employer accounts every New Mexico staffing firm needs
- Unemployment insurance with the Department of Workforce Solutions.
- Workers' compensation, administered by the Workers' Compensation Administration. See staffing agency insurance requirements.
- Gross receipts and withholding with the Taxation and Revenue Department. New Mexico taxes most services through its gross receipts tax, so price staffing contracts with that in mind.
- Secretary of State registration for out-of-state entities.
If you also place candidates across the border, Arizona repealed its employment agent licensing effective 2017 (see staffing agency license in Arizona), and Texas regulates fee timing for personnel services without a license (see staffing agency license in Texas).
A New Mexico checklist
NEW MEXICO CHECK — [date] — owner: [name]
Model:
[ ] Direct hire / search: no state license; candidate fee terms
reviewed if any
[ ] Temp staffing: we perform all six "temporary services
employer" functions (negotiate, assign, reassign, set pay,
pay directly, worker may refuse)
[ ] Any construction or oil and gas well service/drilling
classes? -> Employee Leasing Act compliance confirmed
[ ] Long-term leasing: registration ($1,000), $100,000 bond,
renew by end of anniversary month
Employer accounts:
DWS UI account; workers' comp; TRD gross receipts and
withholding; SOS registration [ ]
Next review: [date]Re-check whenever you take on a construction, oil field or drilling client, or a client that wants to keep your workers indefinitely at rates it sets, since either can move you from temporary services into leasing.
Questions people ask
Does New Mexico require an employment or staffing agency license?
No. New Mexico has no general license for employment agencies, search firms or temporary staffing companies. Its former employment agency statutes were repealed in 1981, according to a survey of state laws compiled by South Carolina's Secretary of State; I could not view New Mexico's own compilation note to confirm the citation.
Who must register under New Mexico's Employee Leasing Act?
Employee leasing contractors, meaning firms that provide leased workers to clients through employee leasing arrangements, must register with the Employee Leasing Program of the Regulation and Licensing Department under NMSA 1978 § 60-13A. Arrangements for temporary workers are excluded, except that temps classified in construction or oil and gas well service or drilling are presumed covered.
What does employee leasing registration cost in New Mexico?
The Regulation and Licensing Department's FAQ lists a $1,000 fee for initial registration and $1,000 for each annual renewal, a $100,000 surety bond or cash bond, and a $500 penalty for late renewal. Registrations not renewed within 30 days of the renewal date are cancelled.
Do New Mexico health care staffing agencies register?
I found no New Mexico statute requiring nurse or health care staffing agencies to register as of October 2026. Health care facilities themselves are licensed by the state, and staffing firms that supply them still need the ordinary employer accounts and, for construction or oil and gas placements, attention to the Employee Leasing Act.