How do I resolve error 'cannot convert char to int'

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ListBox

Typecasting

I have a ListBoxFor where i need to retrieve all the selected values. The selected values are in a string array of the form :
string commaDelimited = "mihr20, emp1004, fbc567,mihr01";.
Now when i attempt to separate the individual items between the commas i get type-casting exception 'Cannot convert Char to int'. I need to extract the values to :

mihr20 emp1004 fbc567 mihr01

In the controller i have :

request.EmployeeNumber = new string[] { Convert.ToString(formcollection["EmployeeNumber"]) };
 string[] employees =request.EmployeeNumber.Split(new char[] { ',' });
if (ModelState.IsValid)
                {
                    foreach (string emp in employees)
                    {
					...save the selected employees
					}
					
					}

And the model as

[Required]
       [Display(Name = "Employee ")]
       public string[] EmployeeNumber { get; set; }
       public Employee Employee { get; set; }
       public String DisplayName { get; set; }
       public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> employees { get; set; }

What I have tried:

I tried to as below but in the database it saves a single value System.String[] instead of all the values

var employeees = request.EmployeeNumber.ToString();
 string[] employees =employeees.Split(new char[] { ',' });