People only realised a man had skipped work for six years when he won an award

Let's be honest, we've all pushed our luck when it comes to amount of work we actually do while on the clock.

After all who remembers all the viral videos shared during the pandemic of people 'working' from home?

However one man in Spain was able to take doing the bare minimum at work to the next level by collecting a paycheck for a job he hadn't shown up to in over six years.

Now, most of you may be thinking this has to be made up, slacking off for the odd hour at work is something a lot of people will admit to.

The brave amongst us may even try to get away with going a whole day with doing the bare minimum, but not showing up to work for six years? That's got to be a hoax, right?

Well not for Spanish civil servant Joaquín García.

It's a pretty ballsy move to not show up to work for six years. (Getty Stock Images)

Back in 2010, García was in line to be awarded with a celebratory plaque at his job with a local water board in Cadiz, Spain.

There was only one problem - no one had seen him at work for the past six years.

Recalling the moment he'd discovered García's extended absence from work, his boss, Jorge Blas Fernández, was left wondering whether or not he was still employed there.

"I wondered whether he was still working there, had he retired, had he died? But the payroll showed he was still receiving a salary," he said.

Turns out García's office had been sitting vacant for at least six years. During this time, he had been collecting an annual salary of $41,500 (£32,307).

After confirming with a fellow employee that no one had seen García in the office for a number of years, Fernández got in contact with the man in order to get to the bottom of what had been going on.

"I asked him: what are you doing? What did you do yesterday? And the previous month? He could not answer," Fernández said.

García would later deny the accusations. (Getty Stock Photos)

A court would later fine García $30,000 (£23,355) for his extended holiday, which was the maximum penalty which they could give, according to the BBC.

García - who has since retired from his job - would blame alleged workplace bullying for his absence, and said he'd move to a post where there was no work to be done.

According to people close to him, he did go into the office, but not for full business hours.

We may never know for sure how long García was able to hoodwink his bosses, the story has long captured the imagination of people online.

During a discussion about García's case on Reddit, one person said that he had been able to 'beat the system', while another simply labelled him a 'legend'.