State Work Incentive Program

 

Oklahoma is taking active steps to enhance the "Welfare to Work" transition for recipients of public assistance benefits entering the labor market through the State Work Incentive Program.This program was designed to encourage the placement of eligible participants in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program into entry-level positions in state government. In 2000, the program was expanded to include the option of hiring clients from the Vocational Rehabilitation and Visual Services Divisions of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.

Through the State Work Incentive Program, state agencies may hire individuals into the unclassified service in a full- or part-time capacity. Employees hired through the State Work Incentive Program are eligible for leave and other benefits available to other state workers, subject to other eligibility requirements, and may be reassigned or promoted while they are in the program. These employees do not count against an agency’s FTE limit while they are in the Program.

State agencies may consider conversion to permanent classified status for employees hired through the Program after two years of continuous participation in the Program if the employee:

• Has had satisfactory performance as evidenced by performance appraisals;
• Possesses the minimum requirements listed in the classified job specification;

These employees are not subject to other probationary hiring procedures such as placement on Merit System job registers and certification.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services or the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Serviceswill refer eligible applicants to state agencies interested in hiring through the State Work Incentive Program. OPM does not maintain referral lists of eligibles for this Program.