DENVER — The Cherry Creek Shopping Center is now requiring its employees to pay for parking, a move that has sparked frustration among workers.

Starting April 1, employees will have to pay $20 per month if paid online or $25 per month if paid in person. For years, workers only had to pay a one-time, refundable $30 deposit for a parking pass — until now.

According to Cherry Creek Shopping Center General Manager Michael Wilson, this move has been planned since the mall first introduced paid parking for customers in 2017.

“Free parking for our tenant employees was always intended to be a short-term benefit,” Wilson said in a statement. “Free tenant parking is not a benefit widely offered at other businesses in the Cherry Creek neighborhood other than those retailers who choose to pay for their employees’ parking.”

For employees, the bigger question is — why did it take eight years to inform them?

Kristin Melanson, who works at one of the stores inside the mall, says she and her coworkers were blindsided by the change.

“The whole thing was shocking,” Melanson said.

Employees weren’t officially notified until March 10, a week after the registration period had already begun. Many first heard about it through a leaked notice on Reddit.

“We never received a notification for the parking change,” said Melanson. “We’re just truly upset with the poor communication with it as well.”

While $20 a month may not seem like a major expense to some, Melanson points out that many of the mall’s employees are part-time high school and college students — and this cost adds up.

“It could be a meal, it could be gas, it could be putting away for an emergency fund, but instead, people have to fork that money out to come to work,” said Melanson.

The Cherry Creek Shopping Center employs more than 3,000 people. That means this new fee could generate an estimated $900,000 per year.

“I asked if this money was going towards new security, a parking deck, or any kind of infrastructure improvement,” Melanson said. “They told me no.”

Cherry Creek Shopping Center did not tell 9News how, or if, the additional revenue will be used.

While some businesses have stepped up to cover parking costs for their employees, most have not. Employees say frustration is growing across the mall, with many questioning why they should have to pay to park at their place of employment.

“I could see people saying, well, I only work there once a month. I guess I won’t go there anymore. I’ll just go fill in at my other job, or I’ll go find another job,’” Melanson said.

For now, employees are continuing to push back, hoping mall management will reconsider the policy or offer a better solution.

“Why would you punish the people who are keeping you in business?” Melanson said.

For more on this story and other Denver stories, visit our news partners at 9NEWS.com.

A mall spokesperson stated that this change has been in the works since paid parking was introduced for customers in 2017. Employees were only informed this week.