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Spanish Civil Servant Takes Six Years Off Work. No-One Notices
The Local ^ | 12 Feb 2016

Posted on 02/18/2016 11:04:14 AM PST by nickcarraway

A civil servant in southern Spain failed to turn up at the office for six years but no-one noticed and he still collected his salary each month, it has emerged.

The long-term absenteeism of Joaquín García, an engineer employed by the municipal water company in Cádiz, was only discovered when he was considered for an award for performing 20 years of loyal service.

The case emerged this week after a court ordered him to pay a fine of €27,000 for his prolonged absence, a figure that amounted to less than one year of his annual €37,000 salary, the maximum that could be reclaimed.

He had been sent by the city council to oversee the building of a waste-water treatment plant in the southwestern city, but records show that García had not turned up for work since 2004.

This was only discovered six years later when he was due to be presented with a commemorative plaque after an apparent 20 years of loyal service to the council.

"We thought that he had been supervised by the water company but that was not the case," local deputy mayor Jorge Blas Fernández, who originally given him the job, told El Mundo.

"I wondered whether he was still working there, had he retired, had he died? But the payroll showed he was still receiving a salary," Blas explained.

According to Blas: "I called him up and asked him ´What did you do yesterday? The month before, the month before that?' He didn’t know what to say."

Garcia, now 69 and retired, claims he was the victim of workplace bullying and had turned up each day only to find he had no work to do.

He claimed he did not report the situation because he was worried it could lead to an end to his employment and he had a family to support.

Instead, he read extensively and became an "expert on the philosopher Spinoza".


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: leave; officespace; paidleave
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1 posted on 02/18/2016 11:04:14 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Hmmm. I actually showed up for 36 years and hardly anyone noticed. LOL!


2 posted on 02/18/2016 11:08:03 AM PST by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?!)
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To: nickcarraway

Well at least he did something with all that free time although I wouldn’t have picked Spinoza.


3 posted on 02/18/2016 11:10:45 AM PST by Shark24
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To: nickcarraway


Donde esta mi grapadora roja?

4 posted on 02/18/2016 11:11:31 AM PST by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: nickcarraway

Too bad King Opie didn’t take the last seven years off.


5 posted on 02/18/2016 11:12:01 AM PST by Iron Munro (WE MAY BE PARANOID BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY AREN'T REALLY AFTER US)
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To: nickcarraway
and became an "expert on the philosopher Spinoza"

So it wasn't completely wasted time. Think of all those people who make life worse for others by making a point of going to work each day, e.g. Diversity Trainers, Sexual Harassment Counselors, Green Advocates, etc.

6 posted on 02/18/2016 11:12:24 AM PST by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: who_would_fardels_bear

“Think of all those people who make life worse for others by making a point of going to work each day...”

I worry more about the ones that are allowed to VOTE!.


7 posted on 02/18/2016 11:16:02 AM PST by EagleUSA
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To: rktman

U R not helpin’ those of us who are still active fed govs bro!


8 posted on 02/18/2016 11:16:27 AM PST by V_TWIN
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To: nickcarraway

I would gladly pay the congress to stay home. It would be a lot cheaper for us.


9 posted on 02/18/2016 11:19:17 AM PST by certrtwngnut ("Peace through superior fire power". Ted Nugent)
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To: Shark24

I think hr’s kind of apt that he picked Spinoza.


10 posted on 02/18/2016 11:19:32 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Considering most “civil servant’s” job consists of making citizen’s live more difficult, probably better for everyone that he didn’t do it.


11 posted on 02/18/2016 11:22:50 AM PST by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: nickcarraway

You know with “civil servants” like Lois Lerner and many in the VA, we might be better off if they took a page from this guy’s book and disappeared.


12 posted on 02/18/2016 11:26:07 AM PST by The Sons of Liberty (My Forefathers Would Be Shooting By Now!)
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To: V_TWIN

LOL! No fed. Private contractor.


13 posted on 02/18/2016 11:35:37 AM PST by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?!)
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To: nickcarraway

I’d be willing to give a pay raise if 99% of the Federal government would stay home. It would be cheaper in the long run.


14 posted on 02/18/2016 11:38:16 AM PST by Idaho_Cowboy (Ride for the Brand. Joshua 24:15)
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To: nickcarraway

Used to work for the US gov’mt ...


15 posted on 02/18/2016 11:44:27 AM PST by SkyDancer ("Nobody Said I Was Perfect But Yet Here I Am")
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To: rktman

Ex-fed and glad of it.


16 posted on 02/18/2016 11:48:54 AM PST by liberalism is suicide (Communism,fascism-no matter how you slice socialism, its still baloney)
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To: nickcarraway
1. what does this say about the management? Never checked on his work? No plan in place to keep track of worker's output? Need to fire managers also.

2. What does it say when an 'employee' who fails to show up for 6 years get a 20 year award? Only in Government!

17 posted on 02/18/2016 11:52:38 AM PST by Lockbox
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To: nickcarraway

Restores yur faith in the work ethic, eh?

Beats claiming a fake disability. I guess.


18 posted on 02/18/2016 11:58:41 AM PST by NormsRevenge (SEMPER FI!! - Monthly Donors Rock!!)
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To: Lockbox
what does this say about the management?

Actually, I say i makes management look worse than the employee in question.

19 posted on 02/18/2016 12:04:07 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

How do you tell when a government worker dies on the job?

They stop going home................


20 posted on 02/18/2016 12:04:21 PM PST by Red Badger (READ MY LIPS: NO MORE BUSHES!...............)
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