A hospital employee in Italy is under investigation for various charges after it was discovered that he had allegedly skipped work for over a decade.

Was still paid monthly salary for 15 years

The 67-year-old man had not turned up for work at the Pugliese Ciaccio hospital in the city of Catanzaro since 2005, reported The Guardian.

However, he was still being paid a monthly salary throughout his 15 years of absence, with the amount adding up to about €538,000 (S$859,719).

Police gathered evidence from attendance and salary records, as well as witness statements from co-workers at the hospital.

Back in 2005, the man allegedly threatened the hospital director to prevent her from filing a disciplinary report over his absenteeism.

The hospital director subsequently retired, and the man managed to continue skipping work undetected as the new director and the human resources department did not check his attendance.

According to BBC, the man is now being investigated for fraud, extortion and abuse of office.

Six other managers at the hospital are also being investigated in connection with his alleged absenteeism.

Absenteeism is rife in Italy, and Yahoo reported that in 2016, the government tightened laws to minimise such cases after police investigations revealed how prevalent the issue was in the public sector.

One previous incident was when a police officer was caught clocking into work in his underwear before going back to bed.

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