ROME - Stakhanovite FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva has outraged his staff at the UN agency by urging employees to come into work even if they are sick or have just had operations.

 In a newsletter heartily congratulating himself on his re-election virtually unopposed to his job running the Rome-based agency earlier this month, the Brazilian agronomist commended what he called the "inspiring" actions of an employee who renounced his sick leave to work at an FAO conference. 

 The employee, Giancarlo Mariotti, a conference clerk who had had surgery just three days earlier, was praised for coming out of sick leave in order to help at the event.

 "Allow me to single out one person in particular: Mr Giancarlo Mariotti, who underwent an operation only three days before the start of the session, renounced his sick leave and performed an outstanding job assisting the Chairperson of Conference," Graziano said.

 "This is an inspiring story, especially at a time when there is an upward trend in sick leave at the Orgnization. Giancarlo: thank you."

 A senior FAO staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Italian Insider ”this is a good example of the culture of worsening labour conditions at the organisation.”

 ”A person who had surgery three days earlier is praised for working during the conference ... the secretary general is insinuating it is a nice contrast to other attitudes causing increasing sick leave at the organisation.”

 ”Encouraging this type of behaviour of going to work when you are sick is outrageous and in fact dangerous.”

 ”In addition, such a statement contributes to a culture of over-working, burn outs and illnesses.”

 It is not the first time that Graziano's attitude to employee health has raised eyebrows. In the past a stress management course organised by the FAO chief medical officer was closed down because it was considered ”off message” by senior management. Later he ordered employees' shower rooms closed because too many staffers were going for runs in their lunchbreaks, and slashed holiday allowances in the strife-torn IT division.

 At the start of Graziano's reign a young Japanese staffer jumped to his death from FAO middle east headquarters in Cairo before he was due to be medivacced after a breakdown caused by overwork, leading to the departure of the Saudi Arabian honcho in charge of the UN agency's troubled middle east operation.

 The Japanese government protested strongly against the agency's stakhanovite culture, but the latest remarks show that Graziano evidently did not draw obvious lessons from the tragedy, FAO watchers say.

 Meanwhile as the organisation relies increasingly on short term contracts, hundreds of consultants are unable to go sick unless at death's door as they are not paid while ill.