The hiring of private detectives in employment matters has increased since the outbreak of the pandemic in the Balearic Islands, especially to investigate sick leave due to Covid, an increase that some professionals put at 30 percent.
Detective director of the Cabanach Group, Juan Carlos Cabanach, who has told Europa Press that three out of every four sick leaves investigated are false.
For his part, the delegate of the Professional Association of Private Detectives of Spain (Apdpe) in the Balearic Islands, Juan Carlos Terán, added that the negative effects of the coronavirus have also been noted in the reduction of their services, "given the decrease in economic activity in the Balearic Islands". This has occurred, as he has exemplified, in sectors such as tourism. "The Balearic Islands is an island that lives a lot on tourism and the hotel industry has been closed, which means that there are fewer staff to be investigated". However, "we have noticed an increase in fraudulent discharges due to the COVID issue", he insisted.
In addition, Cabanach has detailed that this increase in the Balearic Islands is based on different lines of investigation, such as sick leave or close contact confinements, which "basically involves investigating people who were not going to work and were doing leisure activities", or the Temporary Employment Regulation Expedients (ERTE), where "there has been a lot of fraud" because there were workers who were in this situation and, in parallel, "were working for competitors or in other activities", he said.
He also pointed out that there has been "a lot of control" in relation to teleworking, investigating employees who "were very absent, did not comply with the schedules or invented the reports".
The delegate of the Apdpe in the Balearic Islands the majority of their clients are usually companies "that have suspicions or antecedents" of the person to investigate. "When someone comes to us it is because they have indications," he said. In this regard, he pointed out that between 80 and 90 percent of the cases investigated are uncovered, where it is demonstrated that the worker was being fraudulent.