Friday Fun

This week I was both amused and bemused to read of a story of an employee (based in Italy, not the UK) who has been absent from work for 15 years!!!! Yes, 15 years!!! Named “King of absentees”, the gentleman who is now 67 years old, has been paid on full pay during this time, despite being rumoured to have only worked one day – the day he went in to sign his contract. I am not quite sure how he got away with it, but it appears change in line managers, HR etc meant that he slipped through the net. Various staff members have been arrested in case they were complicit in this scam but it is a timely reminder to check on those long term absences, just to make sure all the paperwork is in order and up to date etc. Here, in the UK with the provision of statutory sick pay in most cases of absences, this helps flag when an individual has been on long term ill health and the SSP comes to an end. But it’s always good to use these stories for a timely check!