State officials began accepting applications Monday for a $1,200 incentive offered to those finding jobs recently or in the near future.
Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Back-to-Work Initiative will be available to the first 20,000 qualified applicants.
Stitt announced May 17 that he was canceling the state’s participation in temporary federal pandemic-related unemployment benefit programs, including a $300 weekly payment, effective this past Sunday.
When state officials announced the ending of the enhanced federal benefits, they estimated that about 90,000 unemployed Oklahomans were receiving the $300 weekly boost from federal funds.
Stitt has said he hopes the cancellation of those payments combined with the new program will incentivize unemployed workers to find new jobs.
Some employers have been wanting for employees as the state emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and the number of workers participating in the labor force is already at an all-time high.
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The incentive program requires participants to have had an active unemployment claim with an eligible weekly certification on file for at least one of the first two weeks in May (May 2-15).
Employees must work in the state at least 32 hours per week for six consecutive weeks sometime between May 16 and Sept. 4. The worker’s employer must also pay in to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund or have a federal employee identification number.
The latest figures from the U.S. Labor Department indicate that more than 32,000 Oklahoma workers were still receiving federal benefits after their regular state unemployment expired.
About 14,700 so-called gig workers were receiving unemployment benefits, too, under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, designed for those who are contract workers or otherwise self-employed.
The $24 million in funding needed for the incentive program will come from COVID-19 federal stimulus dollars.
The state unemployment rate was 4% in May, 1 percentage point higher than it was in May 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Oklahoma’s 4% unemployment rate ranked it the 12th lowest in the nation, tied with three other states.
More than 23,000 more Oklahoma workers are employed now than there were two years ago during May 2019, according to Labor Department figures.
Applications and pay stubs can be submitted to oklahoma.gov/oesc/individuals.html#return-to-work.
Related video: Oklahoma Employment Security Commission director on qualifications for $1,200 work incentive
Video from May 17, 2021. OESC Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt talks about $1,200 work incentive
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