How long can an employee avoid work before getting into trouble? Probably, a week or a month. However, a teacher in Italy managed to skip work for two decades while still collecting a paycheque.
According to news.com.au, Cinzio Paolina De Lio, who has been described as Italy's worst employee, used sick leave, holiday time, and permits to attend conferences in order to avoid work. She was finally sacked this year.
As per the report, the 56-year-old teacher showed up to teach at a school in Italy only four out of the past 24 years. She was meant to be teaching literature and philosophy at a secondary school near Venice. On rare occasions, when she did turn up, she didn't do a very good job of educating the students, as she forgot the lessons.
Students accused her of texting during their exams, not having a copy of the textbook she should be teaching, and assigning grades at random.
During a seemingly routine school inspection, school inspectors described her lessons as 'confused', according to The Times. The teacher was finally sacked on June 22 after her pupils at the school went on strike.
Remarkably, she took the case to court and managed to get her job back. However, the court reversed its decision to reinstate her after it was discovered she had only worked four years out of 24.
According to Italian media, the teacher submitted 67 sick leave certificates over the past two decades and had two absences due to workplace accidents. She also had three periods of leave from work for health reasons and days off to care for her child. Further, she took several days off to assist relatives with disabilities and received five exemptions for training courses.
The Italian Supreme Court blasted her as ''permanently and absolutely unsuitable'' for the job of a teacher.
The Times report added that media chasing De Lio were unable to reach her for comment as she was at the beach.
