Unjustified sickies to be punished

STAFF pulling sickies was a scourge in the public sector, Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos said on Friday, highlighting the need for measures to be put in place to stop repeat offenders.

Frequent sick leaves was a problem, a “scourge that affected the entire public service,” Hasikos said.

The minister said drastic measures must be put in place to stop those workers who cited illness to be continuously absent from work.

One way of punishing them is transfers far away from home, the minister said.

He suggested prosecuting the doctors who issued the fake certificates.

Hasikos said people pulling sickies exacerbated the staff shortages in some departments.

Going after those who help them would prevent them from leaving their job, the minister said.

“The objective is to serve the public immediately if possible.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.