Employees at the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí (Unachi) have now gone two full pay periods — roughly a month — without receiving their salaries, according to a report by Telemetro. The situation has placed Panama’s second-largest public university under strain, and its rector, Absel Navarro, is asking staff for patience as the new administration works through what he describes as an “administrative limbo.”
What Happened
According to the source report, Unachi officials and staff have accumulated two quincenas — the twice-monthly pay periods commonly used in Panama — without pay. Rector Absel Navarro acknowledged the delay and attributed it to challenges facing the newly installed administration at the university, which he characterized as being caught in an administrative limbo as it transitions into office.
Navarro’s appeal for patience suggests the delays are tied to unresolved administrative processes rather than a deliberate decision to withhold payment. The rector’s comments indicate that the incoming administration inherited a situation in which standard payroll procedures had not been fully settled, leaving staff waiting on their wages.
Background
The Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí is one of Panama’s principal public universities, located in the western province of Chiriquí with its seat in David. As a state-funded institution of higher education, Unachi depends on public financing and government transfers to cover its operating costs, including payroll for its professors, administrative personnel, and support staff.
Universities in Panama are financed largely through transfers established by national law, and delays in those transfers or in internal administrative handovers can directly affect the ability of institutions to pay their employees on time. When a new administration takes office at a public university, it must reconcile budgets, verify pending obligations, and reactivate payroll processes — a transition period that can create gaps in payment if the outgoing administration left affairs unresolved.
For public servants in Panama, salaries are typically paid in two installments per month, known as quincenas. Missing two consecutive quincenas represents nearly a full month without income, a situation that can create serious financial pressure for employees and their families, particularly those with fixed obligations such as rent, mortgages, and household expenses.
Payroll problems at public institutions are politically sensitive in Panama, where labor rights and timely payment of state employees are closely watched by unions, professional associations, and the national press.
What This Means for Panama
The unpaid salaries at Unachi affect a significant segment of Panama’s education sector and raise questions about the state of the university’s finances at the moment of the administrative transition. The rector’s public acknowledgment of an “administrative limbo” points to difficulties in the handover between the outgoing and incoming university leadership.
Key issues to watch include whether the two outstanding quincenas are paid promptly, whether the new administration can normalize payroll going forward, and whether staff, unions, or faculty organizations escalate the matter through protests or formal complaints if delays continue. The episode also puts attention on how Panama’s public universities manage financial transitions between administrations and whether the government’s transfer payments to higher education institutions arrive on schedule.
For Unachi’s employees, the immediate priority is receiving the roughly one month of back pay owed to them. For the broader public, the case is a reminder of how administrative continuity — or the lack of it — at Panama’s state institutions can have direct consequences for workers’ livelihoods.
This story was originally reported by Telemetro.