[media-credit name=”Caitlin Cryan” align=”aligncenter” width=”500″][/media-credit]

The student workers at The Bobcat Den were supposed to receive their final paychecks of the semester on Dec. 18. However, the money did not make it to them on time.

Instead, student workers did not receive their final paychecks until Jan. 8.

Bobcat Den student employees received an email from the payroll office stating, “Attention Students – Bobcat Den. It has been brought to our attention that you were not paid in the last payroll period. We have received your hours from Chartwells and you will be paid this Friday, 1/8/16 for the period ending 12/17/15.”

The email did not provide a reason as to why the payment was distributed late.

Bobcat Den student employee, sophomore Stefano Clemente, called the payroll office to find out what happened.

“I was told that the reason was because the student hours spreadsheet was not turned in therefore payroll was not issued to the students,” Clemente said.

Other employees who did not confront anyone about the issue were left confused, like freshman Bobcat Den student employee Deja Perry.

“I am not sure why we were paid late. It was an inconvenience for me and I wish I was contacted on why we were not paid,” Perry said. “I believe we were not provided with an answer from Chartwells or my boss because of the holiday season.“

Perry was also upset because she was not able to use the money she expected to receive to purchase gifts for her family.

“Receiving my check late was an inconvenience for buying Christmas presents for my family,” Perry said. “I expected that check would come before Christmas and when it didn’t, I was not able to buy the present I wanted to for my father.”

Bobcat Den student employee, junior Jelani Butler, was also bothered by the late payment.

“It’s disturbing that there is a possibility that people depended on this late payment to cover the expenses of the holidays,” Butler said. “It might have led to people having drastically different holidays than anticipated.”

Bobcat Den student employee, freshman Karla Hicks, believes the entire situation was a misunderstanding because of the holiday chaos.

“I feel people really didn’t question the payment or they just overlooked it because of the holiday, “ Hicks said.

Chartwells did not wish to give a statement or comment on the situation.

According to some, late payments have been a problem in the past.

Deja Perry said she had issues when she first began working at the Bobcat Den. Chartwells lost her paperwork and she was told to go to the Student Employment Office. Perry had to walk back and forth from the office to finally receive a paycheck.

“I walked [to the Student Employment Office] and was told they did not have a check for me and that they would contact me,” Perry said. “I eventually received my check… however, they were missing some hours.”