2016 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 40. Labor
§40-53. Licenses.

(a) No person shall open, operate or maintain an employment agency in the State of Oklahoma without first procuring a license from the Administrator. Any person who shall open or conduct any such agency without first having procured a license shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in Section 57 of this title. Application for the first license to be issued to any employment agency following the effective date of this act shall be accompanied by a fee of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00); renewal applications for a license to be issued to any employment agency shall be accompanied by a fee of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00). The license fee shall not be returnable, and shall be placed in the General Revenue Fund of the State Treasury.

(b) Every applicant for a license shall have been a resident of the State of Oklahoma for at least one (1) year immediately preceding the filing of such application, and shall have had at least one (1) year of experience as a placement counsellor in a licensed employment agency either within or without the state. In the case of corporation applicants, at least one of the incorporators and one of the principal officers thereof, together with the person who is to be responsible for the general management of the office shall meet the above requirements as to Oklahoma residence and experience.

(c) Every applicant for a license shall file with the Administrator a written application stating the name and address of the applicant; the street and number of the building in which the employment agency is to be conducted; the name of the person who is to be responsible for the general management of the office; the names and addresses of all those financially interested therein; the name under which the business is to be conducted; whether or not the applicant is pecuniarily interested in any other business or businesses, and if so the nature of same and where carried on. Said applicant shall also state on the application whether or not he is engaged at the time of making application or at any previous time has been engaged or financially interested in an employment agency business in Oklahoma or any other state; and, if so, the name and address of such employment agency or agencies and the dates he was so engaged or interested. If applicant is now or has previously been employed in any employment agency he shall state the name and address of such agency, the name of the person conducting such agency, the dates employed, and in what capacity. All applications shall be sworn to, under oath, and shall remain confidential in the files of the Administrator.

(d) All applicants shall clearly state if they have operated or been employed by an employment agency in Oklahoma or any other state within the past fifteen (15) years and, if so, under what authority; and if ever cited for cause, give the final disposition of said breach of law or regulations charged governing such employment agency or employment. If applicant should be found guilty of perjury as to any material fact, after issuance of a license by the State of Oklahoma, after exhaustion of applicant's right of appeal, the Administrator shall rescind such license immediately thereafter, and no license shall subsequently be issued to such applicant.

(e) The applicant shall give as reference the names and addresses of at least three (3) persons of reputed business or professional integrity. If applicant is a corporation, the application shall state the names and addresses of the officers and directors of said corporation and shall be signed and sworn to by the president and secretary, with seal affixed. If applicant is a copartnership, the application shall state the names and addresses of all partners therein and shall be signed and sworn to by all of them. The Administrator or Director shall be qualified to take sworn statements of applicants, under oath.

(f) Upon the filing of an application for the first license after the effective date of this act, as herein provided, the Administrator shall cause an investigation to be made of the applicant and all those financially interested therein, such investigation to be made by appropriate state agencies and other sources of information, and shall finally rule thereon within thirty (30) days after the application is filed. Unless the application shall be rejected by the Administrator on the grounds that the applicant or associated party or parties have been convicted of a felony, or for other good and sufficient reason within the meaning and purpose of this act, the same shall be granted. If the application is rejected, the Administrator shall state in the written order the specific reasons for such rejection. That there are already an adequate number of licensed employment agencies shall not be grounds for rejecting a license application. An appeal from an order of the Administrator rejecting an application for any reason other than conviction of a felony may be taken to the superior or district court of the county of applicant's residence, in accordance with the general statute of the state governing appeals from decisions of administrative agencies in individual proceedings.

(g) A detailed report of such investigation and the action taken thereon by the Administrator shall be made in writing and become a part of the official records in the Administrator's office.

(h) Every initial application for a license shall be accompanied by a bond in the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), issued by a duly licensed surety company authorized to do business in Oklahoma, to be approved by the Administrator and filed of record in his office, which bond shall be conditioned upon the applicant's complying with all the provisions of this act. Upon completion of one (1) year of operation, the amount of the bond shall be reduced to Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) and shall remain fixed at that amount until the completion of two (2) years of operation, at which time, the amount of the bond shall be reduced to One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). The bond shall remain at One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) so long as the agency remains under the management of the originally licensed operator. If at any time, in the opinion of the Administrator, any of the sureties shall become irresponsible the person holding the license shall, upon written notice and demand from the Administrator, furnish a new bond, subject to the provisions of this section. Failure to furnish a new bond within fifteen (15) days after receipt of such notice and demand shall, in the discretion of the Administrator, constitute just cause for revocation of such license, and each license when revoked shall be obtained by the Administrator for cancellation.

(i) There shall appear on the license the name of the licensee, the location of the office where the employment agency is to be conducted, the name of the person who is to be charged with the general management and the precise name under which the employment agency is to be carried on. In the event of a change in location the Administrator shall be notified of same within ten (10) days and the license shall be endorsed to show the correct address. Each license shall be numbered and dated and posted in a conspicuous place in the office of the employment agency.

(j) In the event the services of the person charged with the general management of the employment agency are terminated within the license year, the licensee shall so advise the Administrator and the name of the person taking over the management shall be substituted on the license for that of the former manager so that at all times the person charged with general management of the employment agency shall be known to the Administrator and shall appear on the license.

(k) Every license shall remain in force for twelve (12) months next after its issuance, unless sooner surrendered, suspended or revoked.

(1) The Administrator shall notify all license holders of the expiration date of their licenses at least ten (10) days prior thereto, and application for renewal shall be accompanied by the required license fee and bond.

(m) In the event the Administrator shall find that an employment agency has violated any of the provisions of this act, or that any other good and sufficient reason therefor has arisen within the meaning and purpose of this act, he may suspend or revoke said license or refuse to grant a new license upon the termination thereof; but in any case no action shall be taken until a written notice has been served on said employment agency specifying the charges against said agency, and a fair public hearing, in which the procedure prescribed for individual proceedings by the general administrative procedure acts of the state shall apply wherever not in conflict with the specific procedures herein prescribed, has been given same within thirty (30) days after such written notice has been posted by registered mail to the licensee. If, after such hearing, the Administrator shall find cause to suspend, revoke or refuse to issue a license, the employment agency shall be given written notice of the Administrator's decision and the basis therefor, which decision shall become final at the end of thirty (30) days from the date of such notice, unless during the said thirty-day period the licensee shall take an appeal to the superior or district court of the county in which the license was issued from the Administrator's order, with opportunity for stay as provided in the general statutes of the state governing appeals from administrative orders in individual proceedings. All appeals from the Administrator's decisions and orders shall be taken in the manner prescribed by law.

(n) Every complaint against an employment agency shall be made in writing to the Administrator and shall be thoroughly investigated. A complete record of the investigation and disposition of the complaint shall be made and become a permanent record in the Administrator's office. Whenever, for any cause, a license is revoked, the Administrator shall not within two (2) years from the date of such revocation issue another license to the person whose license has been revoked.

(o) No license granted under the terms of this act shall be transferable, but an employment agency may, with the approval of the Administrator, at any time incorporate or admit a partner or partners to the business, or make changes in the corporate name, or sell the business; but no employment agency shall permit any person not mentioned in the application for license to become connected with such agency, either as a partner or as an officer of a corporation, unless the Administrator's written consent thereto shall first have been obtained. Such consent may be withheld only for any reason for which an original application for license might have been rejected if the person or persons in question had been mentioned therein. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent any executor, administrator or heir of a deceased licensee from carrying on the employment agency's business for the remainder of the period for which licensed, or pending its sale to a qualified purchaser.

(p) No sale of a franchise for an agency operation in Oklahoma shall be legal, or enforceable in the courts of this state, unless and until the qualifications of such franchise purchaser shall first have been submitted to the Administrator as a prospective licensee under the provisions of this act, and approved by the Administrator.

Laws 1967, c. 384, § 2, emerg. eff. May 23, 1967; Laws 1974, c. 62, § 1; Laws 1993, c. 270, § 46, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.