{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-62-62-34.301","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 62, § 62-34.301","heading":"Short title - Civil Service and Human Capital","body":"Modernization Act - State Employee Dispute Resolution Program.\n\nA. This act shall be known and may be cited as the \"Civil\n\nService and Human Capital Modernization Act\".\n\nB. The Human Capital Management Division and the Civil Service\n\nDivision of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall:\n\n1. Establish and maintain a State Employee Dispute Resolution\n\nProgram, which may include mediation, to provide dispute resolution\n\nservices for state agencies and state employees. Actions agreed to\n\nthrough the State Employee Dispute Resolution Program shall be\n\nconsistent with applicable laws and rules and shall not alter,\n\nreduce or modify any existing right or authority as provided by\n\nstatute or rule;\n\n2. Establish rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedures\n\nAct as may be necessary to perform the duties and functions of this\n\nact, including creating an Office of Veterans Placement to offer\n\ncounseling, assessment and assistance to veterans seeking state\n\nemployment;\n\n3. Receive and only act on complaints by state employees\n\narising from disciplinary action;\n\n4. Use administrative law judges as independent contractors or\n\nadministrative law judges provided by the Office of the Attorney\n\nGeneral to exercise the provisions of this act;\n\n5. Submit quarterly reports on workload statistics to the\n\nGovernor, the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and\n\nthe President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate containing\n\nthe following information:\n\na. the number of cases, complaints and requests for\n\nhearings filed, disposed of and pending with the\n\nDivisions for each month of the quarter, and\n\nb. a numerical breakdown of the methods of disposition of\n\nsuch cases, complaints and requests for hearing.\n\nQuarterly reports shall be submitted within thirty (30) days\n\nfollowing the last day of the month of the appropriate quarter;\n\n6. Create a confidential whistleblower program and serve as the\n\nchief administrator of such program whereby a state employee may\n\nconfidentially report claims of agency or employee mismanagement as\n\nwell as criminal misuse of state funds or property. Mismanagement\n\nincludes fraudulent activity or abuse or violation of a well-\n\nestablished, articulated, clear, and compelling public policy. The\n\nOffice of the Attorney General shall have the authority to\n\ninvestigate and determine whether to prosecute such whistleblower\n\nclaims. The Attorney General shall also have the power to refer\n\nsuch claims to the appropriate district attorney; and\n\n7. Receive and act upon complaints from disciplinary action and\n\ngrievances filed by state employees employed to perform duties as\n\noutlined in paragraph 6 of subsection E of Section 3311 of Title 70\n\nand Section 2-105 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes and to\n\nestablish rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act as may\n\nbe necessary to carry out this objective and the right to be heard.\n\nC. Complaints shall be filed with the Civil Service Division\n\nwithin ten (10) business days of the date of when such action\n\noccurred and hearings shall take place within thirty (30) business\n\ndays from the filing of the complaint, with the exception of actions\n\nfiled pursuant to paragraph 7 of subsection B of this section.\n\nD. Employees filing a complaint with the Civil Service Division\n\nshall prove that there was no reasonable basis for the disciplinary\n\naction by the state agency. The review of the merits of the\n\ncomplaint may be limited to the employee disciplinary file directly\n\nat issue. In the event documents needed are not maintained in the\n\ndisciplinary file, or additional witnesses are requested by the\n\nparties, the administrative law judge shall have the discretion to\n\nallow additional documentation or witnesses regarding the\n\ndisciplinary action taken. Complaints relating to punitive\n\ntransfers shall be administrated through mediation first and shall\nfile directly\n\nat issue. In the event documents needed are not maintained in the\n\ndisciplinary file, or additional witnesses are requested by the\n\nparties, the administrative law judge shall have the discretion to\n\nallow additional documentation or witnesses regarding the\n\ndisciplinary action taken. Complaints relating to punitive\n\ntransfers shall be administrated through mediation first and shall\n\nonly proceed to a hearing if mediation is unsuccessful. Employees\n\nwho were offered a relocation incentive as set forth in\n\nadministrative rule shall not be deemed as being subject to a\n\npunitive transfer. Complaints relating to written reprimands shall\n\nbe administered through mediation exclusively, and state employees\n\nemployed to perform duties as outlined in paragraph 6 of subsection\n\nE of Section 3311 of Title 70 and Section 2-105 of Title 47 of the\n\nOklahoma Statutes shall be permitted to proceed to a hearing if\n\nmediation is unsuccessful. Mediation may also be available for\n\nother disciplinary actions.\n\nE. Claimants shall be permitted to secure and utilize\n\nrepresentation during the adverse action process.\n\nF. The presiding officer of any proceeding before the Civil\n\nService Division may require payment of reasonable attorney fees and\n\ncosts to the prevailing party if the position of the nonprevailing\n\nparty was without reasonable basis or was frivolous.\n\nG. For purposes of this section, \"disciplinary actions\" means\n\ntermination, suspension without pay, involuntary demotion, punitive\n\ntransfers or written reprimand.\n\nH. Nothing in this section shall apply to:\n\n1. Persons employed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor,\n\nOklahoma House of Representatives, Oklahoma State Senate,\n\nLegislative Service Bureau, or the Legislative Office of Fiscal\n\nTransparency;\n\n2. Elected officials;\n\n3. Political appointees;\n\n4. District attorneys, assistant district attorneys or other\n\nemployees of the district attorney's office, and the District\n\nAttorneys Council;\n\n5. The state judiciary or persons employed by the state\n\njudiciary;\n\n6. Not more than five percent (5%) of an agency's employees\n\ndesignated as executive management as determined by the agency\n\ndirector and the agency shall designate the status of the employee\n\nas state employee or executive management in the State of Oklahoma's\n\nHuman Resources Information System, maintained by the Human Capital\n\nManagement Division;\n\n7. Temporary employees employed to work less than one thousand\n\n(1,000) hours in any twelve-month period;\n\n8. Seasonal employees employed to work less than one thousand\n\nsix hundred (1,600) hours in any twelve-month period;\n\n9. Employees in a trial period; or\n\n10. State employees whose employment status is otherwise\n\nprovided by law.\n\nI. Except as provided by subsection H of this section,\n\neffective January 1, 2022, all state employee positions shall be\n\nadministered by the Human Capital Management Division of the Office\n\nof Management and Enterprise Services, without reference to prior\n\nclassified or unclassified status.\n\nJ. In collaboration with executive branch agencies, and their\n\nhuman resources personnel, the Human Capital Management\n\nAdministrator shall establish and define statewide minimum standards\n\nfor human resource business processes, based on industry standards\n\nand statewide best practices, to be followed by all executive branch\n\nagencies. The Human Capital Management Administrator has the\n\nauthority to grant exceptions to the statewide minimum standards.\n\nAdditionally, the Human Capital Management Administrator shall\n\nestablish and maintain a statewide job catalog and pay structure for\n\nexecutive branch jobs and establish policies and procedures for a\n\nmarket-based pay system, pay-for-performance system, and dispute\n\nresolution process for issues that do not rise to a disciplinary\n\naction as provided by the Civil Service and Human Capital\nandards.\n\nAdditionally, the Human Capital Management Administrator shall\n\nestablish and maintain a statewide job catalog and pay structure for\n\nexecutive branch jobs and establish policies and procedures for a\n\nmarket-based pay system, pay-for-performance system, and dispute\n\nresolution process for issues that do not rise to a disciplinary\n\naction as provided by the Civil Service and Human Capital\n\nModernization Act. The Human Capital Management Administrator shall\n\npromulgate rules necessary to carry out the authority set forth in\n\nthis section.\n\nK. The Civil Service Division is authorized to employ attorneys\n\nor contract with private attorneys to serve as legal counsel to the\n\nCivil Service Division. The attorneys shall be authorized to appear\n\nfor and represent the Civil Service Division in all litigation that\n\nmay arise from the discharge of its duties, including the\n\nrepresentation of the Civil Service Division when its decisions are\n\nappealed to higher courts. Attorneys employed by the Office of\n\nManagement and Enterprise Services to represent the Civil Service\n\nDivision shall represent the Civil Service Division notwithstanding\n\nits representation of the Office of Management and Enterprise\n\nServices in the same or related matters pending before the Civil\n\nService Division or before any court. The Office of Management and\n\nEnterprise Services shall establish internal administrative\n\nprocedures to ensure that all departments within the Office of\n\nManagement and Enterprise Services are provided independent legal\n\nrepresentation, and such simultaneous representation shall not, of\n\nitself, be deemed to constitute a conflict of interest.\n\nL. The Civil Service Division shall be exempt from the\n\nrequirements set forth in Section 20i of Title 74 of the Oklahoma\n\nStatutes when carrying out the duties and functions of this act.","path":["OK Code","Title 62"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os62.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"b088e527773c45777f14e05e5220410b8b331fc18b94ab15834721cdb8295d37","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-62-62-34.3.1","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-62-62-34.31"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}