Okla. Stat. tit. 62, § 62-34.301

Modernization Act - State Employee Dispute Resolution Program.

A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Civil

Service and Human Capital Modernization Act".

B. The Human Capital Management Division and the Civil Service

Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall:

1. Establish and maintain a State Employee Dispute Resolution

Program, which may include mediation, to provide dispute resolution

services for state agencies and state employees. Actions agreed to

through the State Employee Dispute Resolution Program shall be

consistent with applicable laws and rules and shall not alter,

reduce or modify any existing right or authority as provided by

statute or rule;

2. Establish rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedures

Act as may be necessary to perform the duties and functions of this

act, including creating an Office of Veterans Placement to offer

counseling, assessment and assistance to veterans seeking state

employment;

3. Receive and only act on complaints by state employees

arising from disciplinary action;

4. Use administrative law judges as independent contractors or

administrative law judges provided by the Office of the Attorney

General to exercise the provisions of this act;

5. Submit quarterly reports on workload statistics to the

Governor, the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and

the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate containing

the following information:

a. the number of cases, complaints and requests for

hearings filed, disposed of and pending with the

Divisions for each month of the quarter, and

b. a numerical breakdown of the methods of disposition of

such cases, complaints and requests for hearing.

Quarterly reports shall be submitted within thirty (30) days

following the last day of the month of the appropriate quarter;

6. Create a confidential whistleblower program and serve as the

chief administrator of such program whereby a state employee may

confidentially report claims of agency or employee mismanagement as

well as criminal misuse of state funds or property. Mismanagement

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includes fraudulent activity or abuse or violation of a well-

established, articulated, clear, and compelling public policy. The

Office of the Attorney General shall have the authority to

investigate and determine whether to prosecute such whistleblower

claims. The Attorney General shall also have the power to refer

such claims to the appropriate district attorney; and

7. Receive and act upon complaints from disciplinary action and

grievances filed by state employees employed to perform duties as

outlined in paragraph 6 of subsection E of Section 3311 of Title 70

and Section 2-105 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes and to

establish rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act as may

be necessary to carry out this objective and the right to be heard.

C. Complaints shall be filed with the Civil Service Division

within ten (10) business days of the date of when such action

occurred and hearings shall take place within thirty (30) business

days from the filing of the complaint, with the exception of actions

filed pursuant to paragraph 7 of subsection B of this section.

D. Employees filing a complaint with the Civil Service Division

shall prove that there was no reasonable basis for the disciplinary

action by the state agency. The review of the merits of the

complaint may be limited to the employee disciplinary file directly

at issue. In the event documents needed are not maintained in the

disciplinary file, or additional witnesses are requested by the

parties, the administrative law judge shall have the discretion to

allow additional documentation or witnesses regarding the

disciplinary action taken. Complaints relating to punitive

transfers shall be administrated through mediation first and shall
file directly

at issue. In the event documents needed are not maintained in the

disciplinary file, or additional witnesses are requested by the

parties, the administrative law judge shall have the discretion to

allow additional documentation or witnesses regarding the

disciplinary action taken. Complaints relating to punitive

transfers shall be administrated through mediation first and shall

only proceed to a hearing if mediation is unsuccessful. Employees

who were offered a relocation incentive as set forth in

administrative rule shall not be deemed as being subject to a

punitive transfer. Complaints relating to written reprimands shall

be administered through mediation exclusively, and state employees

employed to perform duties as outlined in paragraph 6 of subsection

E of Section 3311 of Title 70 and Section 2-105 of Title 47 of the

Oklahoma Statutes shall be permitted to proceed to a hearing if

mediation is unsuccessful. Mediation may also be available for

other disciplinary actions.

E. Claimants shall be permitted to secure and utilize

representation during the adverse action process.

F. The presiding officer of any proceeding before the Civil

Service Division may require payment of reasonable attorney fees and

costs to the prevailing party if the position of the nonprevailing

party was without reasonable basis or was frivolous.

G. For purposes of this section, "disciplinary actions" means

termination, suspension without pay, involuntary demotion, punitive

transfers or written reprimand.

H. Nothing in this section shall apply to:

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1. Persons employed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor,

Oklahoma House of Representatives, Oklahoma State Senate,

Legislative Service Bureau, or the Legislative Office of Fiscal

Transparency;

2. Elected officials;

3. Political appointees;

4. District attorneys, assistant district attorneys or other

employees of the district attorney's office, and the District

Attorneys Council;

5. The state judiciary or persons employed by the state

judiciary;

6. Not more than five percent (5%) of an agency's employees

designated as executive management as determined by the agency

director and the agency shall designate the status of the employee

as state employee or executive management in the State of Oklahoma's

Human Resources Information System, maintained by the Human Capital

Management Division;

7. Temporary employees employed to work less than one thousand

(1,000) hours in any twelve-month period;

8. Seasonal employees employed to work less than one thousand

six hundred (1,600) hours in any twelve-month period;

9. Employees in a trial period; or

10. State employees whose employment status is otherwise

provided by law.

I. Except as provided by subsection H of this section,

effective January 1, 2022, all state employee positions shall be

administered by the Human Capital Management Division of the Office

of Management and Enterprise Services, without reference to prior

classified or unclassified status.

J. In collaboration with executive branch agencies, and their

human resources personnel, the Human Capital Management

Administrator shall establish and define statewide minimum standards

for human resource business processes, based on industry standards

and statewide best practices, to be followed by all executive branch

agencies. The Human Capital Management Administrator has the

authority to grant exceptions to the statewide minimum standards.

Additionally, the Human Capital Management Administrator shall

establish and maintain a statewide job catalog and pay structure for

executive branch jobs and establish policies and procedures for a

market-based pay system, pay-for-performance system, and dispute

resolution process for issues that do not rise to a disciplinary

action as provided by the Civil Service and Human Capital
andards.

Additionally, the Human Capital Management Administrator shall

establish and maintain a statewide job catalog and pay structure for

executive branch jobs and establish policies and procedures for a

market-based pay system, pay-for-performance system, and dispute

resolution process for issues that do not rise to a disciplinary

action as provided by the Civil Service and Human Capital

Modernization Act. The Human Capital Management Administrator shall

promulgate rules necessary to carry out the authority set forth in

this section.

K. The Civil Service Division is authorized to employ attorneys

or contract with private attorneys to serve as legal counsel to the

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Civil Service Division. The attorneys shall be authorized to appear

for and represent the Civil Service Division in all litigation that

may arise from the discharge of its duties, including the

representation of the Civil Service Division when its decisions are

appealed to higher courts. Attorneys employed by the Office of

Management and Enterprise Services to represent the Civil Service

Division shall represent the Civil Service Division notwithstanding

its representation of the Office of Management and Enterprise

Services in the same or related matters pending before the Civil

Service Division or before any court. The Office of Management and

Enterprise Services shall establish internal administrative

procedures to ensure that all departments within the Office of

Management and Enterprise Services are provided independent legal

representation, and such simultaneous representation shall not, of

itself, be deemed to constitute a conflict of interest.

L. The Civil Service Division shall be exempt from the

requirements set forth in Section 20i of Title 74 of the Oklahoma

Statutes when carrying out the duties and functions of this act.