WAGES.

"Wages" means all remuneration for services from whatever source, including commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all remuneration in any medium other than cash, and includes dismissal payments which the employer is required 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 reasonable cash value of remuneration in any medium other than cash, and the reasonable 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 purposes of this act. The term wages shall not include:

1. The amount of any payment, 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 for a class or classes of such individuals, including 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 contributions or deferrals under a qualified 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 receive, instead of provision for such death benefit, any part of such payment, or if such death benefit is insured, any part of the premium or contributions to premiums paid by the 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 the plan or system providing for such benefit 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 upon a payment of a substantial sum by such 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 employment;

2. Any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or his or her beneficiary under a cafeteria plan of the type described in 26 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 at 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 assistance 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 employ, 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 employer is not required by law or contract to make;

6. The value of any meals and 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 supplemental unemployment benefit plan.

Added by Laws 1980, c. 323, § 1-218, eff. July 1, 1980. Amended by Laws 1981, c. 259, § 2, emerg. eff. June 25, 1981; Laws 1982, c. 304, § 3, operative Oct. 1, 1982; Laws 1983, c. 270, § 1, emerg. eff. June 23, 1983; Laws 1993, c. 219, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Laws 1997, c. 30, § 4, eff. July 1, 1997; Laws 2002, c. 452, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2005, c. 182, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2005; Laws 2007, c. 354, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2007; Laws 2010, c. 216, § 3, eff. July 1, 2010; Laws 2016, c. 287, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2016; Laws 2019, c. 251, § 1, eff. July 1, 2019.