Oklahoma Labor Laws Guide

Oklahoma Labor Laws FAQ
Oklahoma minimum wage $7.25
Oklahoma overtime 1.5 times the regular wage for any time worked over 40 hours/week
($10.87 for minimum wage workers)
Oklahoma breaks Breaks not required by law
Oklahoma Labor Laws Guide

Labor laws regulate the rights and obligations of both employers and employees. In Oklahoma, laws concerning employment are primarily federal regulations, supplemented by some state laws, such as those related to leaves of absence and hiring practices.

In this Oklahoma labor law guide, we’ll be looking at the following areas:

Oklahoma wage laws

In Oklahoma, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wages that apply to employees in all sectors, except for specific occupations (see the section below for details on exempt occupations).

Take a look at the breakdown of Oklahoma minimum wages concerning:

OKLAHOMA MINIMUM WAGE
Regular minimum wage Tipped minimum wage Subminimum wage
$7.25* $2.13 $7.25 (with some exceptions)

Oklahoma minimum wage

First of all, let’s discuss the minimum wage in the state of Oklahoma. A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers are lawfully obliged to pay their employees.

As of July 24, 2009, the minimum hourly wage in Oklahoma is$7.25, which is also the federal minimum hourly wage.

Note: Under Oklahoma law, employers must pay their employees the regular minimum wage if their company has at least 10 full-time employees or gross annual profits of more than $100,000. Contrarily, if a company has fewer than 10 employees and a gross profit of $100,000 or less, the minimum wage is as low as $2 per hour.

Exceptions to the minimum wage in Oklahoma

Not all employees qualify for the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. In line with that, employees are grouped into 2 categories:

Including the condition for minimum wages stated above, employees who are exempt from minimum wage under the FLSA are:

🎓 FLSA minimum wage exemptions

Tipped minimum wage in Oklahoma

While the term “tipped employee” is not specified in the state of Oklahoma, employees who receive tips from customers (such as waiters, servers, cleaning staff, etc.) are entitled to the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.

However, an employer may pay a tipped employee the hourly rate of $2.13 as long as the tipped employee receives at least the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour (when wages and tips combine).

If a tipped employee doesn’t make the federal minimum from the tipped minimum wage plus tips — the employer is obliged to pay the difference.

Oklahoma subminimum wage

In Oklahoma, trainees must be paid at least the current minimum wage ($7.25) for all hours of training — unless training is contracted with a third party and done away from the workplace.

In contrast, learners, apprentices, and messengers who are employed in delivering letters and messages can be paid wages lower than the current minimum.

What’s more, full-time students and workers with physical or mental deficiency or injury may also be paid lower wages.

Oklahoma payment laws

Oklahoma employers must pay their employees at least twice each calendar month on scheduled paydays.

However, the following categories can be paid once per month:

The employer must pay out wages due no later than11 days after the end of the payperiod (although a 3-day grace period applies).

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Oklahoma overtime laws

Under the FLSA, eligible employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek are entitled to overtime pay at a rate of one and a half (1.5) times their regular rate.

🎓 Track Oklahoma overtime with Clockify

Overtime exceptions and exemptions in Oklahoma

Not all employees qualify for overtime pay — in fact, certain requirements must be met to have overtime-exempt employee status, including:

Additionally, specific duties, industries, or job positions may affect an employee’s eligibility for overtime. That being said, here are employees who are exempt from overtime pay under FLSA:

🎓 FLSA overtime pay exemptions

Fluctuating Workweek Method (FWW) in Oklahoma

Certain employees who receive a fixed salary are eligible for overtime pay one-half (0.5) times the regular hourly rateunder the Fluctuating Workweek Method (FWW).

The following conditions must be met for the FWW to apply:

Employees who calculate their overtime hours under the FWW provisions are entitled to:

🎓 Fluctuating Workweek Calculator

fluctuating workweek calculator

Let’s see how the Fluctuating Workweek Method (FWW) works in practice:

An employee’s weekly income is, for instance, $700.

In the preceding week, the employee worked 47 hours.

To calculate overtime hours, first determinethe hourly rate.

Simply divide the weekly salary by the number of hours worked for that week:

700 / 47 = $15 per hour

Next, multiply the hourly rate by 0.5 for every overtime hour during a week:

$15 per hour x 0.5 = $7.5 for each overtime hour worked

Total overtime compensation goes as follows:

$7.5 x 7 overtime hours = $53

🎓 Best ways to track employee hours

Oklahoma break laws

No federal or state law of Oklahoma requires an employer to provide rest or lunch breaks to workers above the age of 16. Yet, this doesn’t mean an employer shouldn’t provide breaks to their employees.

In fact, rest and meal breaks foster a healthy workplace environment and help prevent employee burnout. If a break or meal period is promised in the employment contract, the employer must comply with such a promise — otherwise it’s a breach of contract.

Exceptions to break laws in Oklahoma

When provided, rest periods or meal breaks lasting 30 minutes or more are not compensable, while breaks lasting less than 30 minutes (such as a coffee break) must be compensated.

Oklahoma breastfeeding laws in the workplace

When it comes to breastfeeding breaks and rights that nursing mothers have in the workplace — state and federal laws overlap.

Under Oklahoma breastfeeding law, an employer is required to:

Unlike Oklahoma breastfeeding law, federal law concerning breastfeeding at work states:

Which law applies to you?

If an employee is subject to both laws, the one with the strongest protection for the employee will prevail.

Oklahoma leave requirements

In the state of Oklahoma, there are 2 types of leave days:

Let’s see in detail how they work and what they actually are.

TYPES OF LEAVES
✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Annual leave — Refers to paid time off granted by employers to their employees to be used for any reason, such as vacation, personal time off, or due to an illness (when sick leave is used up).

Probationary and permanent employees may accrue annual leave based on their years of service.

The following is the annual leave accrual and accumulation schedule:

Years of service Accrual rate per year Annual accumulation limit
Less than 5 15 days 45 days
5 but less than 10 18 days 78 days
10 but less than 20 20 days 80 days
20 and more 25 days 80 days

🎓 Track Paid Time Off (PTO)

✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Sick leave — There’s no sick leave law concerning private employers. However, full-time state employees may accrue sick leave days based on hours worked during a pay period, but overtime work isn’t included.

Eligible employees may use sick leave in the following circumstances:

  • Sickness or injury,
  • Pregnancy,
  • Medical, surgical, dental, or optical examination or treatment, and
  • In the event that an employee’s condition poses a risk to the health of other employees in the workplace.

The following is the sick leave accrual schedule:

Years of service Sick leave days per year
Less than 5 15 days
5 but less than 10 15 days
10 but less than 20 15 days
20 and more 15 days

Even though eligible employees get 15 days of sick leave, whether they’ve worked less than 5 or more than 20 years, there’s no limit on sick leave accumulation.

Still, temporary and other limited-term employees are not eligible for sick leave use or accrual.

✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Family and Medical Leave Act — The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that obliges employers to provide eligible employees unpaid time off for certain family health or medical reasons.

Under FMLA, employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.

FMLA covers:

  • Employees working in all types of public agencies,
  • Employees working in public and private elementary or secondary schools,
  • Employees working in companies with 50 or more employees, and
  • Employees who fulfill the points stated above who have worked for their employer for a least 12 months (1,250 hours) in the last 12-month period.

Leaves of absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may be given for the following reasons:

  • Birth or care for a newborn child,
  • Adopting or taking in a foster child,
  • Caring for an immediate family member (child, spouse, or parent) due to a serious health condition, and
  • Due to the employee’s serious health condition.
✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Holiday leave — State employees in Oklahoma,except for temporary and other limited-term employees, are entitled to a day off from work without loss of pay on the following holidays:

  • New Year’s Day (January 1st),
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (third Monday in January),
  • Presidents’ Day (third Monday in February),
  • Memorial Day (last Monday in May),
  • Independence Day (fourth day of July),
  • Labor Day (first Monday in September),
  • Veterans Day (eleventh day of November),
  • Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November), and
  • Christmas Day (December 25).*

* State employees in Oklahoma get 2 days off around Christmas. If Christmas falls on a workday, employees receive the day before or after Christmas off (including Christmas Day). If Christmas falls on a Saturday, they receive the preceding Thursday and Friday off. If Christmas falls on a Sunday, employees receive the following Monday and Tuesday off.

If any holiday, other than Christmas, falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be considered a day off. If any holiday (again, other than Christmas) falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a holiday.

Finally, if an eligible employee is required to work on any of the said holidays, such an employee is entitled to a paid leave of absence on an alternative date.

✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Jury duty leave — Jury duty or jury service is a civic duty of each US citizen who receives a summons from a court to serve on a jury.

In Oklahoma, employees have the right to take unpaid time off for jury duty without facing discrimination or being required to use sick, annual, or vacation time to serve as jurors.

✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Voting leave — Employers must grant employees who are registered to vote up to 2 hours of paid time for voting.

However, employees won’t be granted time off to vote if there’s a 3-hour voting period before or after the employee’s regular working hours.

For instance, if the polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the employee works from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,the employer is not obligated to provide leave of absence for voting purposes.

✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Military leave — Employees who are members of the National Guard or reserve component of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Reserves) are entitled to paid leave of absence to perform active or inactive military duty.

However, eligible employees are only paid for the first 30 workdays of such leave (from October 1 through September 30).

✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Enforced leave — Permanent or probationary employees may be granted enforced leave of up to 10 paid working days in the following circumstances:

  • Illness or injury of an immediate family member,
  • Mental or physical disability of the employee’s child (biological, adopted, foster, legal ward, or a child/children from a prior marriage or relationship) who is incapable of self-care, and
  • Death in the immediate family or household.
✅ REQUIRED LEAVE

Donor leave — Any employee of the state of Oklahoma, its departments or agencies, qualifies for a leave of absence for the following reasons:

  • Bone marrow donation 5 workdays of paid time off, and
  • Human organ donation 30 workdays of paid time off.

Child labor laws in Oklahoma

Both federal and state laws make sure minors work in an environment that’s free from recognized hazards — but also limit child labor to foster regular school attendance.

The following are child labor provisions regarding:

Work time restrictions for Oklahoma minors

Since Oklahoma minors are protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) concerning hours of work, there are no hour restrictions when it comes to the employment of workers aged 16 and older.

However, if an employer wishes to employ workers aged 14 and 15, such an employer must comply with the following hour restrictions and regulations:

Breaks for Oklahoma minors

According to the Oklahoma law, minors under the age of 16 must be given:

Workers aged 16 and above are not entitled to break periods of any kind.

Prohibited occupations for Oklahoma minors

Any employer who employs minors under 16 years of age must create a safe and healthy working environment, free of hazards.

That being said, no child under 16 years of age shall be employed in the following occupations:

Yet, minors under the age of 16 are allowed to work on farms or for their parents’ businesses, in the sale or delivery of newspapers.

In addition to the aforementioned hazardous occupations, occupations declared hazardous to all minors under the FLSA also apply in Oklahoma.

🎓 Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for Nonagricultural Occupations | Agricultural Occupations

Any employer or entity that disregards any of the restrictions or prohibitions stated above will be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not more than $500 for each offense, or imprisonment for not less than 10 nor more than 30 days.

Oklahoma hiring laws

By the Oklahoma law, it is a discriminatory practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or training program to fail or refuse to hire, to discharge, expel from a labor organization, segregate, or treat an applicant, member of a labor organization, or employee less favorably merely because of such person’s:

* Except for religious corporations, educational institutions, associations, or societies when it comes to employing individuals of a certain religion to perform religion-related activities or curriculum.

** Unless it is required or permitted by Oklahoma laws to make differences between sexes in terms of employment, it’s not discriminatory to provide different benefits and annuities to widows and widowers of employees.

*** Unless such disability can harm the normal operations of a business.

Furthermore, no employer, labor organization, or employment agency is allowed to print or publish a notice or advertisement indicating a preference, limitation, or otherwise discrimination based on the discriminatory practices above.

Still, such a notice or advertisement may display preferences, limitations, or discrimination based on religion, sex, or national origin where such factors are bona fide occupational qualifications necessary for a particular position.

Also, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information are considered bona fide occupational qualifications with respect to hiring, classifying, or referring for employment when such qualifications are reasonably necessary to the normal operations of a business.

Moreover, an employee 65 years of age who is employed in a bona fide executive or high policy-making position (2 years before retirement) may be retired compulsorily if such person is entitled to a nonforfeitable annual retirement of at least $44,000, and this is not a discriminatory practice.

Right-to-work law in Oklahoma

Oklahoma is another right-to-work state — this means that employees in Oklahoma may choose whether or not to join a labor union without being afraid of losing their job.

On that account, no person in the state of Oklahoma can be required, as a condition or continuation of employment, to:

However, these regulations only apply to employees who were employed after Oklahoma’s right-to-work law took effect on September 28, 2001.

What’s more, fire and police department members aren’t entitled to engage in any work stoppage or slowdown strikes.

Any person or organization that violates any of the provisions stated above will be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Oklahoma termination laws

Oklahoma is another state that recognizes at-will employment. The at-will employment doctrine allows employers to discharge employees at any time and for good cause or no cause at all — without being legally responsible.

At the same time, an employee may terminate their employment at any time and for any reason.

Still, no employer may discharge an employee based on the employee’s:

Such termination of employment is called wrongful termination.

In addition to said wrongful termination situation, no employer may terminate or otherwise take adverse action against an employee for the following reasons:

However, these are just a few of the most common legal grounds for suing an employer for wrongful termination in Oklahoma.

To learn more about wrongful termination and violations of employees’ rights, it is advisable to consult an employment lawyer.

Oklahoma final paycheck

Whenever a person’s employment ends in Oklahoma — whether voluntary or involuntary — the employer is obliged to pay the employee’s wages in full at the next regularly scheduled payday.

Health insurance continuation in Oklahoma

Upon termination of employment, eligible employees and their dependents are entitled to a temporary health insurance continuation under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) law.

Such health insurance may be extended for up to 36 months.

However, COBRA applies to plans offered by private-sector employers having 20 or more full-time employees.

For those not covered by COBRA, Oklahoma requires employers to provide healthcare insurance under the group policy to their employees (and their dependents) for at least 63 days after termination.

Such insurance provides:

Occupational safety in Oklahoma

Regarding workplace safety in Oklahoma, both federal and state laws apply.

On that account, private sector employees are covered by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) law. In contrast, the Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) law conducts safety and health provisions in the public sector.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), private sector employersmust provide a hazard-free and healthy working environment to their employees.

Not only does OSHA enforce workplace safety laws and standards that must be followed, but it also provides education and assistance to reduce work fatalities and injury rates.

There are 6 main types of hazards in the workplace recognized by OSHA:

🎓 OSHA offices in Oklahoma

Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH)

The intent of PEOSH is the same as OSHA — ensuring healthy and hazard-free working conditions for public employees and reducing workplace fatalities to a minimum.

Apart from setting safety and health regulations in the workplace, PEOSH addresses the following:

Miscellaneous Oklahoma labor laws

Finally, we’ll cover some of the miscellaneous labor laws concerning Oklahoma, such as:

Oklahoma whistleblower laws

Whistleblower laws protect employees from retaliation or any other adverse action taken against an employee who “blows the whistle,” i.e., reports any illegal or immoral activity to the authorities.

As previously stated, it’s considered a discriminatory practice if an employer — with respect to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) — discharges or takes any adverse personnel action against an employee who:

Moreover, the Oklahoma Whistleblower Act encourages state employees who “blow the whistle” and report any suspected improper governmental activities to the authorities.

Therefore, no officer or employer shall prohibit or take any adverse personnel action against an employee of a governmental agency for:

Any aggrieved state employee may file an appeal with the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission within 60 days of the alleged violation.

Oklahoma recordkeeping laws

Regarding the retention of employee employment records, federal provisions apply. Under the FLSA, each employer must preserve certain records of nonexempt workers for at least 3 years.

The following are records that every employer covered by the FLSA must maintain:

Frequently asked questions about Oklahoma labor laws

Let’s go ahead and address some questions that may still be on your mind regarding Oklahoma labor laws.

Stay tuned!

Is it illegal to work 8 hours without a break in Oklahoma?

Technically, no. Since there are no state laws that govern breaks for employees and federal regulations do not require employers to offer breaks, it is not illegal for any adult or minor over the age of 16. However, most employers do offer breaks as a way to motivate workers and improve productivity.

What is the 1 and 1/2 rule in Oklahoma?

The “1 and ½ rule” refers to one of the requirements that employees have to check in order to receive unemployment benefits after loss of a job. Essentially, the term refers to total wages an employee has received during their base period, which has to be at least one and a half times the wages in their highest-paid quarter.

Is 32 hours considered full-time in Oklahoma?

The number of hours required for an employee to be considered full-time varies from employer to employer. However, there are 2 reference points most employers rely on:

Essentially, the FLSA states that 40 hours a week is the minimum for workers to be considered full-time employees, while the IRS considers 32 hours a week to be the minimum.

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Conclusion/Disclaimer

We hope this Oklahoma labor law guide has been helpful. We advise you to make sure you’ve paid attention to the links we’ve provided, as most of them will lead you to the official government websites and other relevant information.

Please note that this guide was written in July 2025, so any changes in the labor laws that were included later than that may not be included in this Oklahoma labor laws guide.

We strongly advise you to consult with the relevant institutions and/or certified representatives before taking any action on legal matters.

Clockify is not responsible for any losses or risks incurred should this guide be used without further guidance from legal or tax advisors.