Don’t you just wish that you could not turn up to work for a while and still get paid for it?
Well, one civil servant in Spain managed to pull this off for six years and almost got away with it.
Joaquín García has been fined almost €27,000 (£21,000) after his long absence was finally noticed.
Officials in Cádiz were preparing to hand Joaquín García an award for long service when inquiries revealed the true extent of his contribution (or lack of) he made to the local authority.
Back in 1990, he was given a salary of €37,000 (£28,000) a year before tax by a water company to supervise the construction of a water treatment plant.
But it seems one day he decided to take his siesta to a whole new level and simply decided not to bother working anymore.
Inquiries with a manager who had an office opposite revealed he had not seen Garcia for several years and he allegedly could not answer questions on what he had been doing all this time.
His excuse was pretty incredible too. Garcia claimed that he turned up each day but simply found there was no work to do. Just, wow.
After lengthy inquiries, a legal case was launched in 2010 alleging he had not done a day’s work since 2004, despite continuing to collect his €37,000 (£29,000) annual salary.
The Times reported that Garcia lost his appeal at court and will have to pay his fine, which is the largest possible.
When asked why he didn’t report the situation, he said he had a family to support and feared it would be tricky to find another job. He was not fired from the post because he had already retired.
You really couldn’t make this shit up.
