More than 3,700 Oklahoma Department of Human Services employees will receive a 13% pay raise, Gov. Kevin Stitt and the department announced today.

Most of the employees receiving raises are in DHS field offices around the state, the department said in a news release. The raises will come out of the department’s current budget and will be funded by consolidating 850 vacant and already-funded positions. DHS conducted a yearlong study that identified 400 vacant positions to remove from the agency’s books, totaling $10.8 million annually.

In a news release, DHS Director Justin Brown, Stitt and the Oklahoma Public Employees Association all praised the pay hike.

“This is about taking care of frontline employees, paying them equal to their peers in other state agencies, and bolstering recruitment efforts to fill 450 vacant positions critical for meeting the agency’s mission,” Brown said.

Stitt said Brown and agency leadership dug into the budget and found a way to pay employees more.

“This pay raise shows Director Brown’s commitment to retaining and recruiting qualified, caring people to serve Oklahoma’s most-vulnerable citizens. We appreciate working with DHS leadership and the Governor’s office to make DHS a better place to work so the staff can focus on assisting our fellow Oklahomans,” he said.

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