A Man Skipped Work for 6 Years Without Anyone Noticing - He Didn't Think the Consequences Would Be This Hard

In one of Spain’s surreal bureaucratic blunders, a civil servant managed to go unnoticed for allegedly skipping work for at least six years—until city officials tried to give him an award. What followed was a court case, a hefty fine, and revelations that the man may have spent his time not idly, but immersed in the philosophy of a 17th-century thinker.

A man was fined a full year’s salary after it was revealed that he failed to show up for his job for at least six years, according to reports.

Joaquín García, 69, held the position of supervising engineer at the municipal water board in Spain. However, by the end of his career, he had reportedly stopped attending work altogether. The court determined that García had not set foot in his office for the final six years of his employment and did no work at all between 2007 and 2010.

Now retired, Mr. García claimed he was mistreated at work and, as punishment, was sent to do a job he wasn’t hired to do. But when he arrived, he found there was no actual work waiting for him.

Rather than raise concerns, fearing it might affect future job prospects, he quietly opted out—taking “quiet quitting” to an extreme by eventually stopping work altogether.

Meanwhile, confusion between departments allowed his absence to go unnoticed: the water board assumed he was under the city council’s supervision, while the council believed he was reporting to the water board.

The deputy mayor, who had originally hired García, only discovered his long absence when the city prepared to honor him with a medal for 20 years of service. “He was still on the payroll,” recalled Deputy Mayor Jorge Blas Fernández. “I thought, where is this man? Is he still there? Has he retired?”

As for how he spent his free time, the reports say that he became “an avid reader of philosophy” and developed expertise in the works of Spinoza.

So instead of receiving a commendation, García now faces a $30,000 fine—the net equivalent of one year’s salary.

Workplaces can be unpredictable, full of unexpected moments and odd encounters you wouldn’t believe unless you saw them yourself.