Although there is no real penalty for not doing so, OCCC employees are required to let the college know if they also are employed elsewhere — in addition to their full-time jobs at OCCC.

That’s done by filling out an Outside Employment form, said Human Resources Vice President Angie Christopher.

An open records request for all forms on file was submitted to the college on Sept. 2.

The 33 forms currently on file show the Health Professions area to have the highest number of people working outside of the college with 12.

Nursing Professor Robin McMurray said a lot of nurses have other jobs outside of teaching.

“We can make a lot more money outside than just teaching,” she said.

Next is Social Sciences with six people working a second job. That’s followed by the Arts division with five employed outside of OCCC.

Arts Division Secretary Jessica De Arman said she also works as a dance instructor for enjoyment. She said since the classes are held at night, they don’t conflict with her job at OCCC.

Thirteen of the 33 who have filed the form also are employed at other colleges and universities, including the University of Oklahoma, Rose State College, and the University of Phoenix.

Christopher said a few factors come into play as to why employees are required to fill out the Outside Employment forms.

“As a state employee we have to name a primary employer versus a non-primary employer … ,” she said.

“We want to make sure there is no conflict [and] their secondary position doesn’t contradict with their primary position here.

“Also, for state payroll purposes, [the college has] to have notification if you’re receiving payroll from multiple state agencies. So it’s really a tracking mechanism for the state.”

Christopher said the Affordable Care Act also comes into play with its requirements that employers provide healthcare to their employees.

“There are some issues about dual employment and primary employers, so we need to know if we are the primary employee,” she said. “That triggers our responsibility to offer health care.

“So all of these factors play into why we’re requiring [employees] to provide some kind of notification to us as to if we are their primary employer.”

Another circumstance is conflict of interest, Christopher said.

If an OCCC employee is hired by an outside company who conducts business with the college, it could cause problems, she said.

“[The OCCC employee] would have had access to the entire building … and we just felt like that would be a conflict for [the employee] to have outside access to the college in a different capacity.”

As stated in the OCCC Employee Handbook, employees are required to inform their supervisor of any outside employment at the start of each fiscal year, Christopher said.

She said those who do not complete the form at the beginning of the year have the option to fill it out at a later date without any negative impact or penalty.

“It has to be signed by their supervisor and then signed by their president cabinet member, and then it comes to Human Resources.

“If there is an issue of a conflict, then that does come to me as the vice president of Human Resources to make the determination of whether or not there is a conflict.

“Then our policy states that in the event that there is an inherent conflict, then the employee will be given the option to relinquish the other position, relinquish their position with the college or make a determination of how they would like to handle that.”

Christopher said there could be many reasons why OCCC employers seek outside jobs.

“I don’t necessarily know if it’s a need or maybe an interest to do something outside of their regular position … ,” she said. “I think it’s interesting because we have a varied group of people … and we don’t try to regulate that. We just want to make sure we’re in compliance with the law.

“We’re not trying to run their lives or tell them what they can do.

“We just want to make sure if they do have outside employment, it does not conflict with their primary employment here at the college.”

For more information, email angie.r.christopher@occc.edu.