Severance benefits.

1. Law
2. Oklahoma Statutes
3. State Government
4. Severance benefits.

A. Agencies shall provide severance benefits to affected employees who are separated from the state service as a result of a reduction-in-force due to a reorganization or any other action by an agency which results in affected positions being abolished and affected employees being severed from the state service. Severance benefits shall be given to the following categories of affected employees: permanent classified affected employees and affected employees on probationary status after reinstatement from permanent classified status without a break in service; provided, however, affected employees of the University Hospitals Authority must have been continuously employed in the state service since on or before January 1, 1995, to receive severance benefits. Pursuant to this section and Section 840-5.1A of this title, state agencies may provide severance benefits provided by this subsection to regular unclassified employees with one (1) year or more continuous state service who are separated from the state service for budgetary reasons; however, state agencies shall offer regular unclassified state employees with one (1) year or more continuous state service who are separated from the state service the same severance benefit as the affected employees in a reduction-in-force if the unclassified employees' separation is as a result of the conditions causing the agency to implement a reduction-in-force. Affected employees who qualify for severance benefits pursuant to this section, in addition to the payment of any compensable accrued leave or other benefits an affected employee is eligible to receive upon separation from the state service, shall receive severance benefits consisting of the following elements:

1. All agency severance benefits shall provide the following:

• a.payment equal to the affected employee's current health insurance premium for the affected employee only for eighteen (18) months based on the cost of the premium at the time of the reduction-in-force. The appointing authority of the agency can ask the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to waive the severance benefit provision in this subparagraph or to reduce the length of coverage or subsequent severance benefit payment upon demonstration of the agency's inability to fund the full benefit,
• b.a longevity payment, as prescribed by Section 840-2.18 of this title, in the amount which would otherwise be paid to the affected employee on the affected employee's next anniversary date. For the purposes of this subparagraph, the University Hospitals Authority shall calculate longevity for affected employees who were members of the University Hospitals Authority Model Personnel System pursuant to Section 3211 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes for all state service as would otherwise be determined by Section 840-2.18 of this title, and
• c.outplacement assistance and employment counseling prior to and after the reduction-in-force from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission and other state or private entities that the entity may contract with to assist individuals who may be impacted by a reduction-in-force;

2. In addition to the severance benefits provided by paragraph 1 of this subsection, agencies may give affected employees, except as otherwise provided by paragraph 3 of this subsection, severance benefit packages based on any combination of the following options, provided that all affected employees who receive severance benefits in the reduction-in-force shall be accorded uniform treatment pursuant to the State Government Reduction-in-Force and Severance Benefits Act:

• a.up to one (1) week of pay, calculated by dividing the affected employee's current annual salary by the whole number fifty-two (52), for each year of service,
• b.a maximum lump-sum payment of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), and
• c.payment for accumulated sick leave or extended illness benefits at up to one-half (1/2) of the affected employee's hourly rate not otherwise used pursuant to law for conversion to credited retirement credit; and

3. An affected employee may direct payment of all or a portion of the affected employee's severance benefits to the options authorized by this paragraph by exercising an option to receive education vouchers for use in connection with the Reduction-in-Force Education Voucher Action Fund subject to the following requirements and rules of the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, provided that the agency offers to match employee severance funds pursuant to this paragraph. In such case:

• a.the affected employee may purchase One Dollar ($1.00) in voucher credit for each One Dollar ($1.00) contributed by the affected employee to the fund subject to a maximum affected employee contribution of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) which may be matched by a maximum agency contribution of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00); provided, that the agency contribution shall not exceed the contribution of the affected employee,
• b.the affected employee may pay the cost for the voucher program directly, subject to the requirements of subparagraph a of this paragraph, or the employing agency of the affected employee may pay the cost of the voucher from funds which would otherwise have been used to make payments to the displaced affected employee pursuant to an election by the affected employee to receive severance benefits,
• c.no voucher issued pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph shall:
• (1)be redeemed by the affected employee for cash or anything of value other than the cost of tuition and fees at a public or private educational institution within the State of Oklahoma, or
• (2)be valid longer than a period of four (4) years from the date upon which the voucher is issued to the affected employee,
• d.the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall pay tuition and fees directly to the educational institution and shall receive any refunds for payment of tuition and fees from the educational institution which shall be credited to the affected employee's account, and
• e.the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall distribute to the affected employee and the agency any monies remaining in the affected employee's account after the voucher credit has expired. The distribution shall be based on the proportional share of contributions made by the affected employee and the agency.

B. Each affected employee who is separated from state service as a result of a reduction-in-force after July 1, 1998, besides being eligible for the eighteen (18) months of continuation coverages provided by the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C., Section 30066-1 et seq., i.e., health, dental, vision and healthcare reimbursement account options, under this severance benefit, shall also be eligible to elect additional continuation coverage for any life insurance, in twenty-thousand-dollar units, on self or five-thousand-dollar units, on dependents, and to continue participation in the dependent care reimbursement account provided that these additional coverages were in effect immediately prior to the effective date of the reduction-in-force, the date of which shall serve as the qualifying event date. Provided, that no coverage elected for continuation through the Public Health Service Act for the full eighteen-month period is allowed to lapse, then that affected employee may elect to continue those same coverages for an additional eighteen (18) months at whatever rate is then in effect. This additional eighteen-month continuation period of coverage shall be administered by the Oklahoma State Employees Benefits Council following the initial eighteen-month period of continuation which shall be administered by the COBRA office at the State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board.

C. Part-time affected employees shall receive benefits pursuant to this section on a prorated basis. Part-time employees shall have been compensated for at least one thousand (1,000) hours during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the effective date of the reduction-in-force to be eligible for severance benefits pursuant to the State Government Reduction-in-Force and Severance Benefits Act.

D. No appointing authority shall grant affected employees in a reduction-in-force severance benefits except as provided in this section.

Added by Laws 1997, c. 287, § 7, eff. July 1, 1997. Amended by Laws 1998, c. 256, § 3, eff. July 1, 1998; Laws 2001, c. 381, § 7, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2003, c. 212, § 14, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2003, c. 353, § 2, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2004, c. 5, § 94, emerg. eff. March 1, 2004; Laws 2012, c. 304, § 885.

NOTE: Laws 2003, c. 120, § 2 repealed by Laws 2004, c. 5, § 95, emerg. eff. March 1, 2004.

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