{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-44-44-4312","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 44, § 44-4312","heading":"Reemployment rights and benefits","body":"A. Subject to subsections B, C and D of this section and\n\nsubject to Section 6 of this act, any person whose absence from a\n\nposition of employment is necessitated by reason of service in the\n\nstate military forces shall be entitled to the reemployment rights\n\nand benefits and other employment benefits of the Oklahoma Uniformed\n\nServices Employment and Reemployment Rights Act if:\n\n1. The person, or an appropriate officer of the state military\n\nforces in which such service is performed, has given advance written\n\nor verbal notice of service to the person's employer;\n\n2. The cumulative length of the absence and of all previous\n\nabsences from a position of employment with that employer by reason\n\nof service in the Uniformed Services of the United States does not\n\nexceed five (5) years; and\n\n3. Except as provided in subsection F of this section, the\n\nperson reports to, or submits an application for reemployment to,\n\nhis or her employer in accordance with the provisions of subsection\n\nE of this section.\n\nB. No notice is required under paragraph 1 of subsection A of\n\nthis section if the giving of notice is precluded by military\n\nnecessity or, under all of the relevant circumstances, the giving of\n\nnotice is otherwise impossible or unreasonable. A determination of\n\nmilitary necessity for the purposes of this subsection shall be made\n\npursuant to the applicable regulations prescribed by the Secretary\n\nof Defense pursuant to 38 U.S.C., Section 4312 or pursuant to\n\nregulations prescribed by the Adjutant General and shall not be\n\nsubject to judicial review.\n\nC. Subsection A of this section shall apply to a person who is\n\nabsent from a position of employment by reason of service in the\n\nstate military forces if his or her cumulative period of service in\n\nthe state military forces, with respect to the employer relationship\n\nfor which he or she seeks reemployment, does not exceed five (5)\n\nyears, except that any such period of service shall not include any\n\nservice:\n\n1. That is required, beyond five (5) years, to complete an\n\ninitial period of obligated service;\n\n2. During which the person was unable to obtain orders\n\nreleasing him or her from a period of service in the state military\n\nforces before the expiration of the five-year period and the\n\ninability was through no fault of the person;\n\n3. Performed as required pursuant to 32 U.S.C., Section 502 or\n\n503, or to fulfill additional training requirements determined and\n\ncertified in writing by the Secretary concerned, to be necessary for\n\nprofessional development, or for completion of skill training or\n\nretraining;\n\n4. Performed by a member of the state military forces who is:\n\na. ordered to state active duty in support of a mission\n\nor requirement of the state military forces,\n\nb. ordered to or retained on Title 32 active duty under\n\n32 U.S.C., Section 502(f), or\n\nc. ordered to or retained on state active duty or Title\n\n32 active duty, other than for training, under any\n\nprovision of state or federal law to execute the laws\n\nof the state, or suppress insurrections or repel\n\ninvasions or for any state emergency declared by the\n\nGovernor or the Oklahoma Legislature, as determined by\n\nthe Adjutant General for state active duty or by the\n\nSecretary concerned for Title 32 active duty; or\n\n5. Performed as active duty, as defined in 10 U.S.C., Section\n\n101(d)(1).\n\nD. 1. An employer is not required to reemploy a person under\n\nthe Oklahoma Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights\n\nAct if:\n\na. the employer's circumstances have so changed as to\n\nmake reemployment impossible or unreasonable,\n\nb. for a person entitled to reemployment under paragraph\n\n3 or 4 of subsection A of Section 9 of this act or\n\nsubparagraph b of paragraph 2 of subsection B of\n\nSection 9 of this act, the employment would impose an\n\nundue hardship on the employer, or\n\nc. the employment from which the person leaves to serve\nmployer's circumstances have so changed as to\n\nmake reemployment impossible or unreasonable,\n\nb. for a person entitled to reemployment under paragraph\n\n3 or 4 of subsection A of Section 9 of this act or\n\nsubparagraph b of paragraph 2 of subsection B of\n\nSection 9 of this act, the employment would impose an\n\nundue hardship on the employer, or\n\nc. the employment from which the person leaves to serve\n\nin the state military forces is for a brief,\n\nnonrecurrent period and there is no reasonable\n\nexpectation that the employment will continue\n\nindefinitely or for a significant period.\n\n2. In any proceeding involving an issue of whether:\n\na. any reemployment referred to in paragraph 1 of this\n\nsubsection is impossible or unreasonable because of a\n\nchange in an employer's circumstances,\n\nb. any accommodation, training, or effort referred to in\n\nparagraph 3 or 4 of subsection A of Section 9 of this\n\nact or subparagraph b of paragraph 2 of subsection B\n\nof Section 9 of this act would impose an undue\n\nhardship on the employer, or\n\nc. the employment referred to in subparagraph c of\n\nparagraph 1 of this subsection is for a brief,\n\nnonrecurrent period and there is no reasonable\n\nexpectation that the employment will continue\n\nindefinitely or for a significant period,\n\nthe employer shall have the burden of proving the impossibility or\n\nunreasonableness, undue hardship, or the brief or nonrecurrent\n\nnature of the employment without a reasonable expectation of\n\ncontinuing indefinitely or for a significant period.\n\nE. 1. Subject to paragraph 2 of this subsection, a person\n\nreferred to in subsection A of this section shall, upon the\n\ncompletion of a period of service in the state military forces,\n\nnotify the employer referred to in such subsection of the person's\n\nintent to return to a position of employment with such employer as\n\nfollows:\n\na. for a person whose period of service in the state\n\nmilitary forces was less than thirty-one (31) days, by\n\nreporting to the employer:\n\n(1) not later than the beginning of the first full\n\nregularly scheduled work period on the first full\n\ncalendar day following the completion of the\n\nperiod of service and the expiration of eight (8)\n\nhours after a period allowing for the safe\n\ntransportation of the person from the place of\n\nthat service to the person's residence, or\n\n(2) as soon as possible after the expiration of the\n\neight-hour period referred to in division (1) of\n\nthis subparagraph, if reporting within the period\n\nis impossible or unreasonable through no fault of\n\nthe person,\n\nb. for a person who is absent from a position of\n\nemployment for a period of any length for the purposes\n\nof an examination to determine the person's fitness to\n\nperform service in the state military forces, by\n\nreporting in the manner and time referred to in\n\nsubparagraph a of paragraph 1 of this subsection,\n\nc. for a person whose period of service in the state\n\nmilitary forces was for more than thirty (30) days but\n\nless than one hundred eighty-one (181) days, by\n\nsubmitting an application for reemployment with the\n\nemployer not later than fourteen (14) days after the\n\ncompletion of the period of service or if submitting\n\nthe application within the period is impossible or\n\nunreasonable through no fault of the person, the next\n\nfirst full calendar day when submission of the\n\napplication becomes possible, or\n\nd. for a person whose period of service in the state\n\nmilitary forces was for more than one hundred eighty\n\n(180) days, by submitting an application for\n\nreemployment with the employer not later than ninety\nible or\n\nunreasonable through no fault of the person, the next\n\nfirst full calendar day when submission of the\n\napplication becomes possible, or\n\nd. for a person whose period of service in the state\n\nmilitary forces was for more than one hundred eighty\n\n(180) days, by submitting an application for\n\nreemployment with the employer not later than ninety\n\n(90) days after the completion of the period of\n\nservice.\n\n2. a. A person who is hospitalized for, or convalescing\n\nfrom, an illness or injury incurred in, or aggravated\n\nduring, the performance of service in the state\n\nmilitary forces shall, at the end of the period that\n\nis necessary for the person to recover from such\n\nillness or injury, report to the person's employer,\n\nfor a person described in subparagraph a or b of\n\nparagraph 1 of this subsection or submit an\n\napplication for reemployment with such employer, for a\n\nperson described in subparagraph c or d of paragraph 1\n\nof this subsection. Except as provided in\n\nsubparagraph b of this paragraph, the period of\n\nrecovery shall not exceed two (2) years.\n\nb. The two-year period shall be extended by the minimum\n\ntime required to accommodate the circumstances beyond\n\nthe person's control which make reporting within the\n\nperiod specified in subparagraph a of this paragraph\n\nimpossible or unreasonable.\n\n3. A person who fails to report or apply for employment or\n\nreemployment within the appropriate period specified in this\n\nsubsection shall not automatically forfeit his or her entitlement to\n\nthe rights and benefits referred to in subsection A of this section\n\nbut shall be subject to the conduct rules, established policy, and\n\ngeneral practices of the employer pertaining to explanations and\n\ndiscipline with respect to absence from scheduled work.\n\nF. 1. A person who submits an application for reemployment in\n\naccordance with subparagraph c or d of paragraph 1 of subsection E\n\nof this section or paragraph 2 of subsection E of this section shall\n\nprovide to his or her employer, upon request of the employer,\n\ndocumentation to establish that:\n\na. his or her application is timely,\n\nb. he or she has not exceeded the service limitations\n\nprovided in paragraph 2 of subsection A of this\n\nsection, except as permitted under subsection C of\n\nthis section, and\n\nc. his or her entitlement to the benefits under this act\n\nhas not been terminated pursuant to Section 6 of this\n\nact.\n\n2. Documentation of any matter referred to in paragraph 1 of\n\nthis subsection that satisfies regulations prescribed by the\n\nCommissioner of Labor shall satisfy the documentation requirements\n\nin such paragraph.\n\n3. a. Except as provided in subparagraph b of this\n\nparagraph, the failure of a person to provide\n\ndocumentation that satisfies regulations prescribed\n\npursuant to paragraph 2 of this subsection shall not\n\nbe a basis for denying reemployment in accordance with\n\nthe provisions of the Oklahoma Uniformed Services\n\nEmployment and Reemployment Rights Act if the failure\n\noccurs because such documentation does not exist or is\n\nnot readily available at the time of the request of\n\nthe employer. If, after reemployment, documentation\n\nbecomes available that establishes the person does not\n\nmeet one or more of the requirements referred to in\n\nsubparagraphs a, b and c of paragraph 1 of this\n\nsubsection, the employer of such person may terminate\n\nthe employment of the person and the provision of any\n\nrights or benefits afforded the person under the\n\nOklahoma Uniformed Services Employment and\n\nReemployment Rights Act.\n\nb. An employer who reemploys a person absent from a\n\nposition of employment for more than ninety (90) days\n\nmay require that the person provide the employer with\n\nthe documentation referred to in subparagraph a of\n\nthis paragraph before beginning to treat the person as\n\nnot having incurred a break in service for pension\n\npurposes.\nlahoma Uniformed Services Employment and\n\nReemployment Rights Act.\n\nb. An employer who reemploys a person absent from a\n\nposition of employment for more than ninety (90) days\n\nmay require that the person provide the employer with\n\nthe documentation referred to in subparagraph a of\n\nthis paragraph before beginning to treat the person as\n\nnot having incurred a break in service for pension\n\npurposes.\n\n4. An employer shall not delay or attempt to defeat a\n\nreemployment obligation by demanding documentation that does not\n\nthen exist or is not then readily available.\n\nG. The right of a person to reemployment pursuant to this\n\nsection shall not entitle the person to retention, preference, or\n\ndisplacement rights over any person with a superior claim under the\n\nprovisions of Title 5 of the United States Code relating to veterans\n\nand other preference eligibles.\n\nH. In any determination of a person's entitlement to protection\n\nunder the Oklahoma Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment\n\nRights Act, the timing, frequency, and duration of his or her\n\ntraining or service, or the nature of the training or service,\n\nincluding voluntary service, in the state military forces shall not\n\nbe a basis for denying protection of the Oklahoma Uniformed Services\n\nEmployment and Reemployment Rights Act if the service does not\n\nexceed the limitations set forth in subsection C of this section and\n\nthe notice requirements established in paragraph 1 of subsection A\n\nof this section and the notification requirements established in\n\nsubsection E of this section are met.","path":["OK Code","Title 44"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os44.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"cd3c5862468a2fdd1a12ed126668f86c454bf7ea1e18165642ccc5f113a85818","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-44-44-4311","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-44-44-4313"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}