FOR RELEASE: May 12, 2026
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Steve Flamisch at 848-252-9011 or steve.flamisch@smlr.rutgers.edu
Stephanie Kulke at 847-491-4819 or stephanie.kulke@northwestern.edu
New report: Tens of thousands of Oklahomans illegally paid below the minimum wage
Affected workers lose up to 30% of their income, but the state employs only three people to help them get it back.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Oklahoma’s minimum wage is just $7.25 per hour, but a startling number of workers are getting paid even less.
A report by the Workplace Justice Lab, a multi-institutional partnership focused on strengthening labor standards enforcement in the U.S., reveals that tens of thousands of Oklahomans are illegally paid below the minimum wage, earning an average of just $5 per hour.
“These workers are barely scraping by to begin with,” said Jake Barnes, research program manager for the Workplace Justice Lab @ Rutgers University and the report’s lead author. “It’s very hard to take care of yourself and your family on $7.25. It’s virtually impossible on $5. Unfortunately, our research shows that’s the reality for many workers across the state.”
Researchers analyzed federal data for the years 2010 through 2024 to determine the scope of minimum wage violations in Oklahoma. They estimate:
- On average, 28,000 Oklahomans were paid below the minimum wage each year.
- Affected workers lost an average of $3,800, or 30% of their earned wages, annually.
- Losses totaled $1.6 billion statewide over 15 years, or $109 million per year.
- Bars and restaurants were the biggest offenders, accounting for 30% of violations.
- Across industries, women were 75% more likely than men to be illegally underpaid.
- Workers without a high school diploma and part-time workers were hit hard.
The Oklahoma Department of Labor employs just three wage and hour investigators for the entire state: a ratio of 1 investigator to every 32,000 businesses and 430,000 workers. Despite its small size, this unit recovered $1.25 million for 414 workers in Fiscal Year 2024.
But if voters approve State Question 832, raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2029, the agency will need to staff up, according to the report.
“Our research consistently shows that when the minimum wage rises, violations increase as well,” said Jenn Round, director of the Beyond the Bill program for the Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University and one of the report’s co-authors. “Oklahoma will need to hire more investigators to ensure that workers actually receive the wages SQ 832 promises.”
The Oklahoma Policy Institute, a nonpartisan organization that provides research, analysis and advocacy on state policy issues, said the report should be a call to action for Oklahomans and lawmakers to ensure workers are paid fairly, laws are followed and everyone has a real chance to support their families.
“These findings show what many working Oklahomans already know: hard work doesn’t always mean you can make ends meet," said Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, Economic Security and Immigration Policy Analyst for the Oklahoma Policy Institute. "Thousands of Oklahomans are working long hours in restaurants, stores and other jobs that keep our communities running, but many are still being illegally underpaid. No one with a full-time job should have to struggle to get by. Oklahoma lawmakers should ensure the Department of Labor is properly resourced to hire wage theft investigators, and state voters can go to the polls on June 16 to approve SQ 832 that would raise the minimum wage and help ensure more Oklahomans are paid fairly.”
Read the full Workplace Justice Lab report here.
About the Researchers
Jake Barnes is the research program manager for the Workplace Justice Lab @ Rutgers University.
Jenn Round is the director of the Beyond the Bill program for the Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University and formerly led enforcement at the Seattle Office of Labor Standards.
Daniel J. Galvin is the director of the Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University, a professor of political science and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern.
Janice Fine is the director of the Workplace Justice Lab @ Rutgers University and a professor of labor studies and employment relations in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers.
About Us
The Workplace Justice Lab is a multi-institutional partnership that conducts research on workers’ rights and economic inequality and collaborates with state and local government agencies as well as worker centers, unions and legal nonprofits. It is anchored by the Workplace Justice Lab @ Rutgers University and includes the Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University and the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California.
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