Why Do I Get Paid Later Than My Co-worker

Some time ago I wrote about my co-workers who got mad because we got paid early. We normally got paid at the end of the month but during the month of December we got paid halfway during the month. Instead of looking at it in a positive light or just ignoring the two week early pay, my co-workers saw it as a negative and mourned over having to wait six weeks for the next check instead of the regular four.

I thought it was funny at the time because I had a great cash flow system so I did not need to think about when I got paid. I am now in a situation where I do not have as great of a cash flow and the timing of when I get paid matters a bit more to me now.

http://www.soulculture.co.uk/features/scarticles/almost-famous-by-preach-jacobs-overdraft-fees/

While I am not up in arms about getting paid on a certain date I am wondering why a current co-worker seems to get paid before I do. We currently get paid on the first of every month as PhD students but I know of someone who gets the money in the bank on the day before.

My money does not show up in my bank until the first of the month so I just think it is a little strange. I am not going to freak out over it like my ex co-workers did but it just makes me wonder what is so different about our banking systems that the money does not come in at the same time.