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Unlocking Higher Trainee Pay at the City of Oklahoma City · The 405 Payroll

• 0:13
  Welcome to The 405 Payroll, your lunch break guide to a bigger paycheck and an
• 0:18
  easier month in Oklahoma City.
• 0:20
  I'm Claire Brooks, and today's headline comes from the City of Oklahoma City's own
• 0:25
  hiring information.
• 0:26
  It's about a gap of two dollars and fifty seven cents an hour.
• 0:30
  I'm Miles.
• 0:31
  Two fifty seven doesn't sound like a headline, Claire.
• 0:34
  That's a gas station coffee and a snack.
• 0:37
  Why does it lead the show?
• 0:39
  Because of what it multiplies into.
• 0:41
  The City posts trainee roles with real starting pay.
• 0:45
  A Grounds Maintenance Operator Trainee in Parks and Airports starts at $15.68 an
• 0:50
  hour.
• 0:51
  A Collection and Distribution Trainee in the Utilities Department starts at $18.25.
• 0:58
  Same employer, both trainee level, and the difference is $2.57 an hour.
• 1:03
  Okay, run the math for me.
• 1:05
  I'm a former morning radio guy, and my math mostly lives in my producer's head.
• 1:10
  A full time month is about 173 hours.
• 1:13
  Multiply $2.57 by 173.3 hours and you get roughly $445
• 1:20
  more every month, gross, meaning before taxes.
• 1:24
  That's a few hundred dollars arriving on a schedule, month after month.
• 1:28
  That's a utility bill and then some, or a real chunk of a car payment.
• 1:33
  And it comes from choosing which listing to apply to, which is the part I like.
• 1:37
  One careful note.
• 1:38
  The detailed pay figures we found come from a City hiring announcement published in
• 1:42
  December 2022.
• 1:44
  So treat them as a picture of how the City pays trainees, and confirm today's exact
• 1:49
  number on okc.gov/careers before you plan around it.
• 1:55
  Good flag.
• 1:55
  So the move isn't only to find a job.
• 1:57
  It's to know which door pays more before you walk through it.
• 2:00
  Right, because no listing tells you the second door pays almost three dollars more.
• 2:05
  You have to read both side by side.
• 2:08
  And the paycheck isn't the whole package, is it?
• 2:10
  It isn't.
• 2:11
  The City lists 96 hours of vacation and 130 hours of sick leave a year,
• 2:17
  11 regular paid holidays, a retirement plan, health, dental and vision options,
• 2:21
  and tuition reimbursement.
• 2:23
  Eligible employees working downtown also get an employer paid parking or EMBARK bus
• 2:28
  pass.
• 2:29
  130 hours of sick leave is more than three full work weeks.
• 2:33
  If you've ever worked somewhere with zero sick days, that number lands differently.
• 2:36
  It does.
• 2:38
  We've covered entry level wage jumps in earlier episodes, so today we go straight to
• 2:42
  City jobs, then a CDL fast track, then extra money, then keeping what you earn.