Okla. Stat. tit. 74, § 74-840-2.27D

A. Agencies shall provide severance benefits to affected state

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 permanent affected employees; 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. 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, 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 shall give affected employees

severance benefit packages based on the following options; provided

that all affected employees are accorded uniform treatment:

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 74. State Government Page 550

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 lump-sum payment of Five Thousand Dollars

($5,000.00), or

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. Agencies shall also be allowed to provide the severance

benefits to separating employees not subject to the Civil Service

and Human Capital Modernization Act and rules promulgated thereunder

or whose position is not subject to an imminent reduction-in-force

in exchange for executing a release of all claims against the agency

and this state as required by Section 840-2.27E of this title.

B. 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.