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Reflection for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
He is not the first person to be fired for missing work, but Salvatore Scumace may have set a record for absenteeism. Until recently, the southern Italian man was employed in hospital fire safety. His job was to monitor cameras and to patrol corridors at night. His record is 15 years, without once having shown up for work.
According to The New York Times, Mr. Scumace has taken home an estimated $645,000, without earning a penny of it. Of course, he would not have been able to walk around his home neighborhood, ostensibly retired, without the connivance of others, who are currently under investigation. But as Francesco Procopio, the general director of Pugliese Ciaccio Hospital noted,
Italian Police Accuse Man of Getting Paid for 15 Years While Skipping Work
A hospital worker in Italy’s south was allegedly paid for 15 years without working a single day. Investigators blame the inefficiency of checks at all levels.
The Pugliese Ciaccio Hospital in Catanzaro, Italy.Credit.Alfonso Di Vincenzo/LightRocket, via Getty Images
April 23, 2021, 6:49 a.m. ET
A hospital in Italy’s southern region of Calabria fired Salvatore Scumace for not showing up to work.
For 15 years.
Mr. Scumace, 67, was fired last year from the Pugliese Ciaccio Hospital in the city of Catanzaro, but the news made headlines in Italy this week when Italy’s financial police announced their investigation into his remarkable record of absenteeism. His case was uncovered as part of a wider investigation into absenteeism by public workers.
Italian ‘king of absentees’ skipped work for 15 years
The Guardian, ROME
A public sector worker described as the “king of absentees” by the Italian press is said to have broken the national record by allegedly skipping work for 15 years.
Police said that the hospital employee continued to be paid a monthly salary amounting to US$645,000, despite not turning up to work at Pugliese Ciaccio Hospital in the Calabrian city of Catanzaro since 2005.
Now aged 67, he faces charges of abuse of office, forgery and aggravated extortion.
Six managers are also being investigated on suspicion of having played a role in enabling his alleged absenteeism, which is rife in Italy’s public sector.