We do not often hear politicians speak critically of the abuse of rights by public servants. It was therefore a very pleasant surprise to hear two ministers bring up the abuses of sick leave by public employees, which they had discussed at a meeting on Monday.

After the meeting, Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas said there were public employees who were absent from their jobs on sick leave “for many, many years.” There was a coastguard employee who was on sick leave because he had a condition preventing him serving on a boat and a teacher unable to enter a classroom because of agoraphobia, said Mousiouttas.

Justice Minister Costas Fytiris referred to prison wardens who made a habit of abusing the sick leave ‘right’, although he added that the practice was evident in other government services as well. Speaking on CyBC’s morning radio show on Thursday, Fitiris did not pull his punches when asked about the phenomenon of public servants taking months of sick leave on full pay, without even being ill.

“A proportion of these does not have health problems but exploit the windows (in the legislation),” he said, adding that “such phenomena cannot be acceptable.” While the state would always support those who were ill, “at the same time we have an obligation to citizens and society to prevent the phenomenon of abuse which exists,” said Fytiris.

He also referred to the privileged treatment enjoyed by public employees, who were entitled to be on sick leave for six months on full pay. In the private sector, an employee on sick leave for longer than about a week was paid 65 per cent of their wages from the social insurance fund and “this is very unfair,” he said. “I cannot accept that it is fair and just for those who pay us to be under this regime, while public employees who are paid by the taxes of the unfairly treated citizens, take 100 per cent of their salary when on sick leave.”

According to the law, after the first six months of fully-paid sick leave public employees would be paid 50 per cent of their salary for the next six months. Many of them, according to the ministers, return to work for one day after being off for six months, so that they can go on sick leave on full pay for another six months.

It is a scandalous state of affairs that no government ever addressed for fear of angering Pasydy, but Mousiouttas and Fitiris appear determined to end this scam, in which doctors are also involved as they sign the sick leave certificates. The Medical Council, which gives the final approval, also turns a blind eye to the abuse of sick leave, probably at the behest of politicians, who often help the cheats.

Taking on the cheats will not be easy, but the fact that two ministers have publicly spoken about the sick leave scam, is a step in the right direction.