Employee accused of skipping work for 15 years

A man who worked at a hospital in Catanzaro - a city in the south of Italy's Calabria region - is alleged to have been skipping work since 2005. Better still, he's been on full pay the entire time. No, seriously.

As reported by Italian news agency, Ansa, the man has been paid a total sum of €538,000 (£464,000) over the 15 years that he hasn't been turning up to work. Legend. Though it is some masterstroke to pull this off for so long, he is now being investigated for fraud, aggravated extortion and forgery; absenteeism and abuse of office. Seems fair for a bloke that's been enjoying his day off for more than 15 years. Six managers at the Arnaldo Pugliese Ciaccio Hospital are also being investigated in connection with the alleged absenteeism, with fraud and absenteeism rife in the Italian public sector. Rome has had some of the work cases of skipping work, with 83.5% of Rome’s municipal police ringing in sick on New Year's Eve.