Joaquin Garcia of Cadiz, Spain, was a civil servant assigned to supervise the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant. By Garcia’s account, he was the victim of political bullying and found himself assigned to a job where there was nothing to do. As a result, he went for at least six years without going in to work, and no one noticed, until he became eligible for an award for his long employment.
Spanish newspapers have dubbed him "el funcionario fantasma" - the phantom official.
The court heard that the boss of the water company had not seen Mr Garcia for years despite occupying an office opposite his.
The water company thought he was supervised by the local authorities and vice versa.
The deputy mayor noticed his absence when Mr Garcia became eligible to receive a plaque for 20 years' service.
When the water company found out about Garcia, they levied a fine of €27,000 ($30,000) against him. That’s about a year’s salary, and the legal maximum they could demand. A judge upheld the fine against Garcia, who has since retired from his “non-job.” -via reddit
Comments (1)
"Employees say Lueken's decision, which won't require them to pay anything for their shares in the business, multiplied the high esteem they already held for their boss."
This is not true. Each of the employees will have to pay taxes on the stock. It will be income to them. Chances are they will have to sell the stock to pay the taxes. So, His "gift" to the employees will be sold to pay the taxes. The ownership of the store will go to others, not the employee.
There was another great story, which came out just a little bit earlier, about the CEO of a company who went out of his way to make all of his employees insanely rich: Bain Gave Staff Way to Swell IRAs by Investing in Deals
Oops, never mind, doesn't fit the narrative.