Students frustrated after weeks without pay 

By Felicia Roehm

AFTER weeks of student workers not getting paid on time, checks being sent to homes in different states when students have set up direct deposit and a lack of answers, student workers have become extremely frustrated with Rider’s disbursements methodology, from Rider’s payroll system, ADP, to poor communication from the university regarding their paychecks.

A plethora of issues have arose for students using ADP, from those who use the application reporting that their accounts say they no longer exist, with some new student workers not having accounts at all. With ADP accounts suddenly disappearing, student workers have to fill out a paper timesheet to give to their supervisor,. The paper timesheet is a bigger hassle because students may not have time throughout their busy day to print out and fill out the timesheet when they are supposed to be able to log hours on the ADP mobile app or website as they work throughout the week.

The Rider News staff has been personally affected by the ADP issues with some paid staff members not getting paid on time and others still receiving no compensation yet this semester. With the lack of pay, employees now have to take money out of their savings or rely on others, which can be an overwhelming burden.

Students have to financially support themselves and need their check on time for rent, gas or food. As college-aged individuals are notoriously strapped for cash, students may have to use credit cards and that can lead to debt. Some students do have off-campus jobs; however, some have lessened their hours at their other job or quit altogether because they thought they would make money by working on campus and want to focus on their studies.

If a student has more than one job on campus, each job may require the student to fill out their timesheet differently. There is not one easy system for everyone to use, so students can get confused on how to properly record the times they’ve worked.

Without consistency, student workers aren’t sure who to talk to about the issues they have faced with ADP.

Supervisors are concerned for their employees because everyone needs to get paid what they deserve, on time. Some didn’t even know that the student workers were delayed being paid for two to three weeks. Many college students live paycheck to paycheck, so for students not to get paid for almost a month can lead to damaging issues if they can’t afford their basic necessities. Unfortunately, if workers come to those in leadership positions with questions about payroll, those in charge do not have answers. The supervisors aren’t provided any details or information about the payroll problems from Rider’s disbursements office.

Amy Atkinson, the assistant director of the Academic Success Center, one of the biggest student employers on campus, has seen her tutors face numerous issues with ADP. She explained that once a student fills out their employment paperwork, it takes approximately two weeks for the paperwork to process and the student employee’s ADP account to be created. Recently, however, it has been taking between three to four weeks for everything to be processed.

“The work that we do I believe is worth at least minimum wage because we are right there working with the students regardless of what we are doing,” Del Rio said. “We’re supporting the school, giving back our time and we are doing a lot of important work and we’re exercising important skills and this is helping us move to the next thing but we’re supporting the school in a lot of ways.”

Del Rio shares that it would be great if Rider values the work that student workers do on a daily basis. Students put forward a lot of time and effort toward their job and Rider should remind workers that what they are doing is significant and let them know the positive impact they have. She hopes students will be getting paid on time moving forward, but also that they help Rider be successful and their job matters.

Del Rio said, “I think it is just really important for everyone to also see student workers and the work we do. We choose to be here, we choose to work with students or work in services that support students and to help Rider grow.”

Managing Editor Jake Tiger and Copy Editor Bridget Hoyt both work for the Academic Success Center. They had no part in the writing or editing of this story.