A. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation shall be under the Merit System. Except as otherwise provided in subsections B through D of this section, all offices, positions, and personnel shall be classified and subject to the provisions of the Merit System of Personnel Administration and rules promulgated pursuant thereto. This section shall supersede and repeal any and all executive orders issued pursuant to the Oklahoma Personnel Act to place the agency or its predecessors under the Merit System.

B. In addition to offices, positions, and personnel that are unclassified as specifically provided by law, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation may place any employee initially employed in the following positions on or after July 1, 2015, in the unclassified service:

1. Five (5) executive assistant positions, assigned to an assistant director;

2. Five (5) project manager positions;

3. Five (5) transportation coordinator positions;

4. Five (5) administration coordinator positions; and

5. Seasonal employees who work less than one thousand six hundred (1,600) hours in any twelve-month period.

C. The Department may employ seasonal employees throughout the calendar year. Such labor employed by the Department for a period of time necessary to address a seasonal need shall be in the unclassified service of the state as provided by the Oklahoma Personnel Act of the Oklahoma Statutes. Such employees shall not be entitled to paid leave, paid holidays, retirement, health, dental or life insurance, and shall be exempt from any laws, rules or practices providing for such benefits.

D. The Department, in its annual budget request, shall include a summary of the use of seasonal employees, which shall include the number of workers employed under the provisions of this section and the total wages paid to these employees.

Added by Laws 2015, c. 394, § 1, eff. July 1, 2015. Amended by Laws 2016, c. 254, § 1, eff. July 1, 2016.