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.
The man, 67, was a civil servant at the hospital and been on the books since 2005; he is thought to have stopped working almost immediately and apparently threatened his manager to stop her from filing a disciplinary report against him.
As the manager in question later retired, his indefinite absence was never recorded by her successor or human resources and, thus, one of the great heists of the 21st century was underway.
Perhaps the best part about this story overall is the codename this investigation has been given - wait for it: 'Part Time'. Nicely done. It might have taken the police a good while to catch this chancer but at least they gave the operation a good name.
