Saturday, 6th February 2010 - 06:59CET
'Sick leave' teachers suspended for three days
Presented medical certificates despite having been on shopping trip
Three teachers who reported sick but then went on a London shopping trip have been suspended for three days without pay by a disciplinary board, the Education Ministry has confirmed.
The three women had reported sick on October 30 last year but took an early morning flight to London. The shopping trip lasted until November 3, spanning the weekend and two mid-term holidays.
A doctor, sent by the Victoria Gozo college principal did not find the teachers at home on the same day they reported sick.
The teachers presented medical certificates to justify their absence, according to the Education Ministry. But after receiving reports that the teachers had actually been on a flight to London, disciplinary proceedings were instituted by the Gozo Ministry.
The Education Ministry brushed off responsibility when asked whether it was referring the case to the police for further investigation on possible incorrect use of medical certificates.
"This is not in our competence. The Gozo Ministry led disciplinary proceedings. You may wish to check with them what further action, if any, they will be taking," a spokesman for the Education Ministry said.
A spokesman for the Gozo Ministry said they had legal advice not to disclose any information related to the case, quoting Public Service Commission regulations that deal with disciplinary procedures.
"In view of article 40 of the Subsidiary Legislation entitled Disciplinary Procedure in the Public Service Commission Regulations, the information cannot be given or disclosed to any person, without having first obtained the written permission of the Prime Minister," the spokesman said.
Article 40 states that: "No member of the commission, nor the secretary, not any member of the staff of the commission, nor any public officer, board or authority, charged with powers and functions under these regulations, nor any other person shall, without the written permission of the Prime Minister, publish or disclose to any person, otherwise than in exercise of his official function, the contents of any document, communication or information whatsoever relating to any action taken under these regulations, which has come to his notice or knowledge."
The disciplinary board was appointed in the first week of December and a decision was taken at the end of January.
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Comments
A real case of 'Min qatt m'ghamel dnub jitfa' l-ewwel gebla'.
We rarely see other things on our media ... be it on TV or Local Paper. It's always negative!
I am sure it's not always like that and I know that apart from the yearly winner of 'Il-Haddiem tas-Sena' there are others who are dedicated to their work and never mentioned or appreciated.
Let's be more positive please!!
Again I don't agree with such irresponsible behaviour.
Scot free when you fraud the VAT department MILLIONS of Euro !!!!!
ONLY IN MALTA!!!
What about the Doctors who issued the certificates? Taking a sickie to stay relaxed at home is accepted worldwide, but to go on a shopping holiday is pushing it!
But oh i forgot they are from Gozo, it seems there things work differently, like the scandalous amount of people who are boarded out on social welfare, and after a report by the national statistics office, there has been no feedback or investigations by no government dept. or any other authority. Things are reported on the news on this island, people discuss them on this website and editorials in a constructive manner and no Government Authority ever comments or lifts his finger on the matters at hand! The sound of silence...
This pathetic sort of approach is precisely why there is so much abuse of social benefits . . . it's practically an incentive for others to do the same . . . or worse!!!
To not hold that line sets a precedent, and means that future cases will also be dealt with too leniently. The result wil be a continuing rise in absenteeism - paid for by the tax payers of Malta.
In some cases this would have been dismissal even if a person reports sick because of a sick daughter or son.
I suggest that these 3 should take a camera and stroll around the streets of gozo and malta, taking pictures of the people around, and sending them to their employers (including government). Maybe there will be much less people commenting below ... :)
The medical council should remove his/her warrant with immediate effect. This country has had enough of abusive medical certificates.
It is actions such as these that make the present administration look so fickle, unresponsive to citizens's justified concerns.
The worst thing is the hypocrisy: they make it out to look on the Media as if they are our children's champions! SHAME!
Ara veru nemmen li hawn certu ghalliema ghal paga biss u min veru jkun dedikat jaqla' bis-sieq !!!!
Irrisponsibility at its best. Teachers should be responsible for their pupils and should be dedicated to carry on with their profession. These three clearly are not dedicated, and this may alert other teachers to do the same.
And I should trust my children with these irrisponsible teachers. Welldone.
Now that they have been suspended for 3 days, who are worse off again?!?!?
Answer: Again: Their students......they'll have to be without their 'teachers' for another 3 days.
For instance, you mentioned that you work at that school.
Do tell us how the school in question is a state-of-art building, polished from ground up etc.
You can't since it's literally falling to pieces. I was unfortunate enough to have spent a couple of weeks in that school during certain private lessons when I couldn't but notice everything falling to pieces. No that I'm out, I can't but care less.
It's not my school, and they deserve what they got.
j micallef - Who cares about the media?! Same thing about the tax case, you have to make people work ("pay") for their damages not shout to the world what they did.
However, nice of you to remind us how the church decisions take over to that of a disciplinary board. (sarcasm)
I do not in any way condone what these three teachers did, but still I do believe that a written warning would have been a better punishment, which would have stopped them from behaving irrisponsibly again, since a second warning would automatically lose their job.
If the case mentioned by Mr Pace Gouder is not an exageration, and the said employee was not on probation. He should have gone to the labour office and complained for unfair dismisal, and let them take up the case woth his employer.
since you are so concerned about investigating sick leave --- tell us what your job is or was and we'll start to see how you performed in your area. and your argument about getting the union to get the 22,000 is stupid --- the question is the ministry is lying to YOU about ME and all teachers. That is not my opinion, that is a fact! so what do you say to the ministry's untruth and refusal to correct it? If you are not going to give a simple answer to it, then don't answer at all. and besides, your 'two wrongs don't make a right'? --- guess again: a negative plus a negative make a positive!
If a doctor examins a patient and due to the symptoms described he issues a certificate starting the next day it is still incorrect. The first date on the certificate is "Data tal-ezami" which means examination date, the second box is "tajjeb ghax-xoghol" which means the date when in the opinion of the doctor may resume work and finally "data li hdimt l-ahhar"
the date when the patient ast worked.Responsable doctors do not issue certicates back dated because data tal-ezami is when he/she physically examins you and certify your sickness. One may fake symptoms, but a doctor who carries out a good check up can confirm if the patient is really sick or not.
I do not think Mr Pace Gouder's case is farfetched because at present some employers are finding the least excuse to expell employees due to the lack of work.
If many a man take sick leave around March and are again abusing, I again feel it is the irresponsability of the doctors who issue false certificates.
Even persons registering for work who cannot keep their appontment with registration abuse of sickness so that ETC will justify their absence and they get thier cheque.
Apparti c-cajt, jidher li f'Ghawdex donnu hadd ma jaghli, tissemma li hemm qaddisa protettrici b'sahhitha hafna li tieqaf hafna maghhom.
If you have a grudge against the Ministry of Education, this whole issue has nothing to do with it.
As for the whole issue, no matter which way you look at it, now that it has hit the news,,, it has obviously irritated a lot of people. With all the holidays teachers have: summer, Christmas, mid-term, Carnival, Easter etc etc.... they had to steal sick leave to go on a shopping spree??? Whilst leaving their students without their lessons?
In this case, the decision made their shopping trip deals much more worthed.
Let's take the doctor's case, if a client goes to a doctor's clinic and describes cetain symptoms the doctor would usually prescribe some medicine and issue a medical certificate starting his sickleave from the next day. How can you blame the doctor If his client decides to go to London instead of going to bed?
@ Anthony PaceGouder - The case you mentioned is farfetched, wasn't this employee a member of a union. I would have expected at most a warning, unless of course there were other warnings, or this employee was daily not doing his duty.
I do not believe that taking one day sickleave under false pretences would get anyone sacked from his place of work - I would say they would get a warning and get sacked only if they got another warning. I have heard of many a man taking sickleave round about March - many would know what I;m talking about.
In this case we have all three. What a cover up!
Araw x-differenza , eh !
Mill banda l-ohra hawn qed jinghad li dawn it-tlett Teachers , li qarrqu u serqu l-employer , ipprezentaw certificati tat-tabib (sic.k) ,ghall TLETT (3) TIJIEM SHAH = total ta' 72 SIEGA XOGHOL, siefru fuq 'shopping trip" u dawn dabbru sos-pensjoni ghall TLETT IJIEM ohra ! Dik XORTI !
Tlett tijiem ohra OFF, bix jistriehu ta" kemm grew ? . X-Disiplanary Action dik. Din-Farsa!
Veru sirna pajjiz tal-Carnivalati !
Why aren't the names of the teachers and the doctor/s who issued the certificates published?
By issuing the certificate the doctor is certifying that on the day of examination he physically examined his patient....Hos honest the doctor is...but no one seems to take action against doctors because it is a known fact that some irresponsable doctors issue certificates in future dates.
Well done Education department for brushing off responsability and not refering case to the police. Thats a good example of haw to tackle abuses.
In Gozo these cover up things are even more common because everyone knows each other nd dont want to step on toes...With the blessing of who gives "some" Gozitans this power.
It is irrelevant that they are teachers... they could have been clerks, police officers or nurses. Lying that you are sick when you are not, and having the cheek of going abroad during the same days is simply dishonest (it's at this point ie: that they are teachers and are supposed to set examples to their pupils / students that jars even more) . And the best thing of all is that they get another 3 days off by being suspended..... It is so unfair, and they are being paid by my and your taxes.
It's the suspension of these three days that I find incredible to believe. Some 4 years ago, a person who took sick leave and was seen in a European city was transferred at once from the place he had been working.....
How foolish not to have planned the trip simply for the days they were entitled to be away. Let it serve as a lesson to us all not to deceive, whatever the motivation. Least of all shopping.
However, it is really funny how people act - mass hysteria ... How many of these people who wrote are government employees? (you know what I want to mean). How many are 16 year olds that find glee in commenting negatively against teachers? How many are pensioneers (who have nothing to do) whose pension is being payed for by us, who work (and obviously these 3)
By the way, if you read the previous news about the same subject, you may have noticed a difference .. will give you a hint - 3 may be not so 3 - read well my friends, read between the lines and you may find much much more to comment about.
As for the doctor who issued the certificates. I can't see how the doctor comes into this. They could have complained of some ailment which is difficult to assess like acute diarhoea or a splitting headache with stiff neck or something. You didn't expect the doctor to hold a three day vigil outside their house did you?
@ P Fitzgerald
I don't think the doctor issued the certificates WHILE his clients were in London.
May I remind the public however that even those who stole MILLIONS of euros from the VAT department where practically let off scot free. So stop this hatred towards teachers-especially if you are parents and your kids are in school. If you kids hear you talk about their teachers in such manner no wonder we get no respect in the classroom!!
@c. busuttil: well yeah i was in london last week and a versace tie cost 20 euros more for the same model in versace tie in malta. thats only one example
@ the education dept and / or education Minister. If you were a private company it would be in you interest to investigate the doctor who issued the certiicates as he would be an acomplice to fraud if he / she issued them if they were not really sick. The Goverment is the company , we the taxpayers are the share holders and i as 1 of the share holders demand that you investigate to protect my interests.
The main issue is both the integrities of the Teachers and the Doctor; by their actions in my eyes they have lost the trust. A very sad example to set when one is in such a position. If the Doctor was acting in concert with the teachers then he or she must also be disciplined, otherwise the whole thing is going to turn into a farce just before Carnival! It is blatantly clear that the punishment does not provide a deterrent. I wonder how Parents feel about the three teachers who they entrust to teach their children.
My answer would be :"Gozo giving Malta independence!"
I do hope that the sight of the three teachers being suspended for three days did not put the children off their exams. Were they suspended in different classrooms or all together in the assembly hall.
A good lesson for the children not to skive off school perhaps LOL.
@ Johnny casillas, it's cheaper that's why. Have you aver seen the English coming just shopping from Malta? NO because it's cheaper there. Did they have money in the 80s when Maltese use to shop from Sicily, YES.
I hope the Prime Minister intervenes in this matter. The people voted for him not for Mme Omerta.
The gov't on the other hand can't get rid of them. It's how bureaucracy works: those deciding on employment use the same erratic method they were employed, if they change, so would their status as employers...
“Bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.” Oscar Wilde
“Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work” - Albert Einstein
However the comments i read over here are hilarious to say the least. Someone wrote: poor students, they have missed their lessons. They truly did but... !!!! COME ON!!!- I was almost expecting to read that these students' future was ruined because they missed one lesson or two.
What about those parents who take their kids abroad for skying/shopping holidays during the academic year? Or those who tell them to stay at home three days a month, because the law allows it without having to submit an MC..
This website it truly becoming a vent for teacher haters to submit their comments!!! Come on!!-- -- what did teachers ever do to you? Like anybody else teachers are human, they do mistakes. In this case they were reprimanded and disciplined.... they learned their lesson!! But i guess you want more blood----- MAYBE A PUBLIC CRUCIFIXION would have been more adequate and satisfying..
Frans van Avendonk - Agreed, especially knowing how fake/irrgular certificates are quite common and students from age 10 seem to rely and make use of them.
for your information, these teachers concerned have already been suspended for 3 days during the exams, so no lessons have been lost. And they didn't have a long weekend to enjoy because the suspended days were on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
How long has it been since you've been to London? Last September, comparing the standard of living of England and Malta, prices in London were cheaper than in Malta.
The misuse of sick leave (and medical certificates to back it) is not a rare occurrence in many employments world wide - the crime here is their stupidity in dragging the medical profession (probably an extremely busy doctor who has little time to try and prove his patient is telling lies to obtain a certificate) into disrepute and being caught out.
Yes the whole thing is distasteful and does set a bad example but it is not the worst crime in the book. The loss of three days pay for missing one days work (the other days away were none school days) is I suppose reasonable though I cannot understand the suspension which has the effect of denial of service to the school and extra work for other teachers to the detriment of the children.
Why is it that the Department of Education washed its hands of the whole affair? Why was this considered to be the competence of the Ministry for Gozo? The mind boggles! I think that further investigation is in order. Are these teachers friends of someone high up?
Of course the union leadership would oppose this, because they are more concerned about their membership and the dues their members pay (their salaries), than the quality of the teachers
Scott free i presume!!!!