A. Unless otherwise contracted for by the worker and employer, occupational disease disablement benefits shall be limited so that no worker receives more in total payments, including wages and benefits from his employer, by not working than by continuing to work. Compensation benefits under the New Mexico Occupational Disease Disablement Law shall accordingly be reduced, if necessary, to account for any wages and employer-financed disability benefits a worker receives after the time of disablement. For the purposes of this section, total payments shall be determined on an after-tax basis. This section does not apply to social security payments, employee-financed disability benefits, benefits or payments a worker received from a prior employer, payments for medical or related expenses or general retirement payments, except it does apply to disability retirement benefits.
B. This section shall only apply to disablements that occur after the effective date of this section; it shall not reduce benefits received or due or affect the benefits due for disablements that occur before the effective date of this section.
History: Laws 1990 (2nd S.S.), ch. 2, § 45.
ANNOTATIONSEffective dates. — Laws 1990 (2nd S.S.), ch. 2, § 153 made Laws 1990 (2nd S.S.), ch. 2, § 45 effective January 1, 1991.
Compiler's notes. — The phrase "effective date of this section", referred to in Subsection B, means January 1, 1991, the effective date of Laws 1990 (2nd S.S.), ch. 2, § 45.