Italy's worst employee is teacher who avoided work for 20 yrs using sick leave

Rome, June 29

Italy has named its worst employee -- a teacher who avoided going to work for 20 years using the sick leave option, as well as other like alternatives holidays and permits to attend conferences, a media report said.

In its report, the Daily Mail said that Cinzio Paolina De Lio was employed by a secondary school near Venice to teach literature and philosophy -- but only showed up for four out of the 24 years she worked there.

The disgraced 56-year-old teacher was finally sacked on June 22, the report said.

Even on a rare occurrence when she showed up at the school, her students went on strike after she texted during their oral exams, gave out grades randomly and didn not have a copy of the textbook.

De Lio was described by the Italian Supreme Court as "permanently and absolutely unsuitable" for the job, despite her claims to have three degrees.

She even refused a request for comment from Italian journalists because she was "at the beach".

Eventually her actions caught the attention of school inspectors, who described her lessons as "confused".

The school then sacked her.

De Lio is not the only worker who has been accused of cutting corners during employment in Italy, the Daily Mail report said.

In 2021, it was revealed that public health worker Salvatore Scumace, 66, had allegedly cost the state 538,000 euros as he falsely claimed to work as a fire safety officer in the Pugliese-Ciaccio Hospital in Catanzaro for 15 years.

He was only seen at the hospital once -- on the day he went to sign his work contract in 2005, according to The Telegraph.

As a result, he was dubbed the "King of absenteeism" and was charged with aggravated extortion, fraud and abuse of office.