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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
SENATE BILL 662 By: Rogers
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to employment security; amend ing 40
O.S. 2021, Section 1 -218, which relates to the
general definitions of the Empl oyment Security Act of
1980; modifying definition; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 40 O.S. 2021, Section 1-218, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1-218.
WAGES.
“Wages” means all remuneration for services from whatever
source, including commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all
remuneration in any med ium other than cash, and includes dis missal
payments which the employer is requi red by law or contract to make.
Gratuities customarily received by an individual in the course of
work from persons other than the employing unit shall be treated as
wages received from the employing unit. The r easonable cash value
of remuneration in any medium other than cash, and the reasonable
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amount of gratuities, shall be estimated and determined in
accordance with rules prescribed by the Oklahoma Employment Security
Commission. If the Internal Revenue Code , at 26 USCA, Section 1 et
seq., provides that a payment made by an employer to an employee is
considered to be wages, that payment shall also be considered wages
by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission for the p urposes of
this act. The term wages shall not include:
1. The amount of any pa yment, with respect to services
performed to or on behalf of an individual in its employ under a
plan or system established by an employing unit which makes
provision for individuals in its employ generally, or fo r a class or
classes of such individuals, i ncluding any amount paid by an
employing unit for insurance or annuities, or into a fund to provide
for any such payment, on account of:
a. retirement, other than employee cont ributions or
deferrals under a qualif ied plan as described in 26
U.S.C., Section 401(k), 403(b), 408(k), 457, 7701(j)
or 408(p),
b. sickness or accident disability,
c. medical and hospitalization expenses in connection
with sickness or accident disability,
d. death, provided the individual in its employ:
(1) has not the option to rece ive, instead of
provision for such death benefit, any part of
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such payment, or if such death benefit is
insured, any part of the premium or contributions
to premiums paid by th e employing unit, and
(2) has not the right, under the provisions of the
plan or system or policy of insurance providing
for such death benefit, to assign such benefit,
or to receive cash consideration in lieu of such
benefit either upon withdrawal from th e plan or
system providing for such b enefit or upon
termination of such plan or system or policy of
insurance or of the individual ’s services with
such employing unit, or
e. a bona fide thrift or savings fund, providing:
(1) such payment is conditioned upo n a payment of a
substantial sum by s uch individuals in its
employ, and
(2) that such sum paid by the employing unit cannot
under the provisions of such plan be withdrawn by
an individual more frequently than once in any
twelve-month period, except upon an individual’s
separation from that em ployment;
2. Any payment made to, or on be half of, an employee or his or
her beneficiary under a cafeteria plan of the type described in 26
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U.S.C., Section 125 and referred to in 26 U.S.C., Section
3306(b)(5)(G);
3. Any payment made, or benefit furnished , to or for the
benefit of an employee if a t the time of such payment or such
furnishing it is reasonable to believe that the employee will be
able to exclude such payment or benefit from income under an
educational assistance program as described in 26 U. S.C., Section
127 or a dependent care assis tance program as described in 26
U.S.C., Section 129 and as referred to in 26 U.S.C., Section
3306(b)(13);
4. The payment by an employing unit, without deduction from the
remuneration of the individual in its emp loy, of the tax imposed
upon such individual in its employ under 26 U.S.C., Section 3101
with respect to domestic services in a private home of the employer
or for agricultural labor;
5. Dismissal payments which the em ployer is not required by law
or contract to make;
6. The value of any meals an d lodging furnished by or on behalf
of an employer to an individual in its employ; provided the meals
and lodging are furnished on the business premises of the employer
for the convenience of the employer; or
7. Payments made under an approved supplementa l unemployment
benefit plan;
8. Payments made as a one -time or annual bonus; or
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9. Wages paid on hours or a portion of an hour worked that is
in excess of forty (40) hours wi thin a calendar week.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective January 1, 2024.
59-1-234 QD 1/18/2023 11:11:34 AM