{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-40-40-2-422","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 40, § 40-2-422","heading":"Seasonal workers and employers","body":"A. Unemployment benefits based on services by a seasonal worker\n\nperformed in seasonal employment are payable only for weeks of\n\nunemployment that occur during the normal seasonal work period.\n\nBenefits shall not be paid based on services performed in seasonal\n\nemployment for any week of unemployment that begins during the\n\nperiod between two (2) successive normal seasonal work periods to\n\nany individual if that individual performs the service in the first\n\nof the normal seasonal work periods and if there is a reasonable\n\nassurance that the individual will perform the service for a\n\nseasonal employer in the second of the normal seasonal work periods.\n\nThe notice of reasonable assurance shall be given by the employer to\n\nthe employee in writing on or before the last day of work in the\n\nseason. If benefits are denied to an individual for any week solely\n\nas a result of this section and the individual is not offered an\n\nopportunity to perform in the second normal seasonal work period for\n\nwhich reasonable assurance of employment had been given, the\n\nindividual is entitled to a retroactive payment of benefits under\n\nthis section for each week that the individual previously filed a\n\ntimely claim for benefits. An individual may apply for any\n\nretroactive benefits under this section in accordance with the\n\nprovisions of Article 2 of the Employment Security Act of 1980.\n\nB. If an individual has been employed by a nonseasonal employer\n\nduring the base period of the individual's benefit year, the\n\nindividual may become eligible for benefits during that between-\n\nseason denial period based only on the wages of the nonseasonal\n\nemployment.\n\nC. Not less than twenty (20) days before the estimated\n\nbeginning date of a normal seasonal work period, an employer may\n\napply to the Commission in writing for designation as a seasonal\n\nemployer. At the time of application, the employer shall\n\nconspicuously display a copy of the application on the employer's\n\npremises. Within ninety (90) days after receipt of the application,\n\nthe Commission shall determine if the employer is a seasonal\n\nemployer. The employer may appeal this decision pursuant to the\n\nprovisions of Section 3-115 of this title. A determination of the\n\nCommission concerning the status of an employer as a seasonal\n\nemployer, or the decision of the Assessment Board or a court of this\n\nstate through the administrative appeal process, which has become\n\nfinal, may be introduced in any proceeding involving a claim for\n\nbenefits, and the facts found and decision issued in the\n\ndetermination or decision shall be conclusive unless substantial\n\nevidence to the contrary is introduced by or on behalf of the\n\nclaimant.\n\nD. If the employer is determined to be a seasonal employer, the\n\nemployer shall give notice to each employee of the employer's status\n\nas a seasonal employer and the beginning and ending dates of the\n\nemployer's normal seasonal work periods, and this notice shall be\n\ngiven to the employee within the first seven (7) days of employment.\n\nOn or before the last day of work in the season, if the employer\n\nintends to issue a notice of reasonable assurance of employment for\n\nthe next season, the employer shall also give notice to each\n\nemployee advising that the employee shall timely file an initial\n\napplication for unemployment benefits at the end of the current\n\nseasonal work period and file timely weekly continued claims\n\nthereafter to preserve the employee's right to receive retroactive\n\nunemployment benefits if such employee is not reemployed by the\n\nseasonal employer in the subsequent normal seasonal work period.\n\nThe notice must be on a separate document written in clear and\n\nconcise language that states these provisions. Failure of the\n\nemployer to give adequate notice as required by this subsection will\n\nresult in the termination of the employer as a seasonal employer\nactive\n\nunemployment benefits if such employee is not reemployed by the\n\nseasonal employer in the subsequent normal seasonal work period.\n\nThe notice must be on a separate document written in clear and\n\nconcise language that states these provisions. Failure of the\n\nemployer to give adequate notice as required by this subsection will\n\nresult in the termination of the employer as a seasonal employer\n\nunder subsection E of this section and the allowance of any claim in\n\nwhich the claimant did not receive the required notice.\n\nE. The Commission may issue a determination terminating an\n\nemployer's status as a seasonal employer on the Commission's own\n\nmotion for good cause, or upon the written request of the employer.\n\nThe effective date of a termination determination under this\n\nsubsection shall be set by the Commission. A determination under\n\nthis subsection may be appealed pursuant to the provisions of\n\nSection 3-115 of this title.\n\nF. An employer whose status as a seasonal employer is\n\nterminated under subsection E of this section shall not reapply for\n\na seasonal employer status determination until after a regularly\n\nrecurring normal seasonal work period has begun and ended.\n\nG. If a seasonal employer informs an employee who received\n\nassurance of being rehired that, despite the assurance, the employee\n\nwill not be rehired at the beginning of the employer's next normal\n\nseasonal work period, this section does not prevent the employee\n\nfrom receiving unemployment benefits in the same manner and to the\n\nsame extent he or she would receive benefits under the Employment\n\nSecurity Act of 1980 from an employer who has not been determined to\n\nbe a seasonal employer.\n\nH. A successor of a seasonal employer is considered to be a\n\nseasonal employer unless the successor provides the Commission,\n\nwithin one hundred twenty (120) days after the transfer, with a\n\nwritten request for termination of its status as a seasonal employer\n\nin accordance with subsection E of this section.\n\nI. At the time an employee is hired by a seasonal employer, the\n\nemployer shall notify the employee in writing if the employee will\n\nbe a seasonal worker. The employer shall provide the worker with\n\nwritten notice of any subsequent change in the employee's status as\n\na seasonal worker. If an employee of a seasonal employer is denied\n\nbenefits because that employee is a seasonal worker, the employee\n\nmay contest that designation by filing an appeal pursuant to the\n\nprovisions of Part 6 of Article 2 of the Employment Security Act of\n\n1980.\n\nJ. As used in this section:\n\n1. \"Construction industry\" means the work activity designated\n\nin Sector Group 23 – Construction of the North American Industrial\n\nClassification System (NAICS) published by the Executive Office of\n\nthe President, Office of Management and Budget, 2017 edition;\n\n2. \"Normal seasonal work period\" means that period, or those\n\nperiods, of time during which an individual is employed in seasonal\n\nemployment, as determined by the Commission;\n\n3. \"Seasonal employment\" means the employment of one or more\n\nindividuals primarily hired to perform services during regularly\n\nrecurring periods of twenty-six (26) weeks or less in any fifty-two-\n\nweek period other than services in the construction industry;\n\n4. \"Seasonal employer\" means an employer, other than an\n\nemployer in the construction industry, who applies to the Commission\n\nfor designation as a seasonal employer and whom the Commission\n\ndetermines to be an employer whose operations and business require\n\nemployees engaged in seasonal employment; and\n\n5. \"Seasonal worker\" means a worker who has been paid wages by\n\na seasonal employer for work performed only during the normal\n\nseasonal work period.","path":["OK Code","Title 40"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os40.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"33ff6e07dfa9d997882f84b68ce85a07ec12cacd6278df5a965bbfa252c23887","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-40-40-2-421","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-40-40-2-501"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}