Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the state.
Payroll and Benefits Guide - United States - Oklahoma
Fun Facts
Oklahoma is known as the “Sooner State”.
Route 66, one of the most iconic highways in the United States, passes through Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma State Fair is held annually in Oklahoma City.
The state’s official reptile is the collared lizard.
Oklahoma is home to the largest population of Native Americans in the United States.
Contributions
Employee Payroll Tax
| Contribution Type | Rate |
| FICA Social Security | 6.20% |
| FICA Medicare | 1.45% |
| Additional tax on | 0.90% |
Employer Payroll Tax
| Contribution Type | Rate |
| Unemployment Insurance | 0.30% – 9.20% |
| Unemployment – New Employer | 1.50% |
| FICA Social Security | 6.20% |
| FICA Medicare | 1.45% |
| The FUTA | 0.60% – 6.00% |
Payroll
Payroll Cycle
Employees are paid semi-monthly or monthly, with payments on dates stipulated in the employee contract. Payments are generally made on or before the 1st and 15th of the month.
13th Salary
There are no legislations for 13th-month payments.
Work Hours and Week
There are no provisions in the law that outline a fulltime work week in Oklahoma, however, most employees are subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which defines a full work week as 40 hours or 8 hours per day.
Overtime
Oklahoma adheres to the Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA), and overtime is paid where employees work more than 40 hours in a single working week. The employer must pay 150% of the regular salary rate for the extra hours worked as overtime. Similarly, if employees are scheduled to work on weekends or rest days, no additional payment is required. However, should an Employer request an employee to work in exceptional circumstances on these days, then overtime will be payable at 150% of the regular salary rate for the extra hours worked.
The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labour (DOL) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the FLSA.
Leave
Paid Time Off
Oklahoma does not have any state statute governing the amount and payment of vacation time; however, it is common for employers to decide whether to offer paid or unpaid vacation leave. This must comply with employment law and must be stipulated in the Collective Bargaining Agreements.
Public Holidays
There are 11 official holidays.
Sick Days
It is common for an employer to follow the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain family and medical reasons (maternity leave, serious illnesses or if the employee needs to care for a spouse or child).
In addition, in Oklahoma, employers must provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to an annual maximum of 40 hours of paid sick leave.
Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for their employer for at least one year, completed a minimum of 1,250 hours over the past year, and worked at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.
FMLA eligible employees are entitled to:
- Twelve working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth.
- The employee may be entitled to leave for the adoption or foster care of a child and care for the newly placed child within one year of placement.
- To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a severe health condition.
- A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
- any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.”
OR
- Twenty-six working weeks of leave during a single one-year period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).
In addition to the FMLA, Oklahoma has the Oklahoma Civil rights Act which enhances the rights for pregnant employees. The Act entitles employees who work an average of 30 hours per week to six continuous weeks of paid leave. This applies to adoptive parents too.
Maternity Leave
Maternity leave falls under the FMLA. See sick leave section.
Paternity Leave
Paternity leave falls under the FMLA. See sick leave section.
Parental Leave
Parental leave falls under the FMLA. See sick leave section.
Termination
Termination Process
Except in mass dismissals or as provided for in an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement, U.S. law does not impose a formal “notice period” to terminate an individual employment relationship, and employment is stipulated “at will.”
This means that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship without giving either notice or reason, provided it is not illegal, notable discrimination on the grounds of a category protected by law, etc., and as per the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
The employment contracts of executives and other highly skilled individuals often incorporate a “just cause termination” clause which mandates that the employer may only terminate the employee for “cause” and lists the permissible grounds. In such cases, the parties negotiate the foundations for a “just cause” termination case-by-case.
Notice Period
In Oklahoma, most employees are employed “at-will,” and either party can terminate the employment relationship without notice. In Oklahoma, pay out of unused vacation time is not required by law. Still, generally, employers will pay an employee for unused vacation days, provided the employee gave some advanced notice of resignation; there is no official notice period. Still, in general practice, two weeks’ notice is a minimum requirement.
In mass dismissal cases the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARNA).
Severance Pay
Except as otherwise provided in an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement, employers need not make severance payments to terminated employees. Employers who choose to offer severance would need to have the provisions within the employee’s contract and agreed by both parties, many employers choose to offer severance payment linked to the employee’s length of service. Most common in Oklahoma is one week pay for every year of service.
Immigration
Foreign nationals without permanent resident status or a work visa are not permitted to work in the United States. An employer seeking to hire a foreign national may file a petition with the United States Department of Homeland Security/ United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) for an employment visa on behalf of the prospective employee. If the petition is approved, the prospective employee must obtain a “visa stamp” from a United States embassy or consulate (Canadian citizens are exempt from this requirement). To get a temporary U.S. work visa, an employer must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
VAT
Oklahoma has a minimum combined sales tax rate of 8.92% (state tax at 4.50% and local tax average 4.42%).