INVESTIGATIONS into allegations of fraud, corruption and bribery have been made against 40 county council staff in three years, it has been revealed.
A quarter of those probes for the past three financial years up to last April resulted in sackings, while five decided to resign after being confronted with evidence.
Six were given written warnings, five had informal disciplinaries and two were given management advice.
In nine allegations there was no case to answer, while two are ongoing.
Leader of Essex County Council, Councillor David Finch, said: "Our employees are vital in maintaining the integrity of the council and ensuring the proper rules and regulations are followed.
"We have a number of ways that employees can raise genuine concerns, including a confidential hotline.
"This information is easy to access and forms part of our training programme.
"There are very few of these issues at the council, but any allegation is taken seriously and fully investigated.
"Any employee raising a concern is provided with the necessary support throughout and after any investigation."
In the past financial year, one employee was sent packing for failure to disclose information, another was absence-related and a third for breach of policy.
The year before, two workers resigned and four were sacked following investigations into making information up; while another lost their job one for failing to disclose information.
Five people were dismissed during 2011/12. Two employees lost their jobs following investigations into inappropriate time-keeping, one resigned following allegations of misappropriation of assets; one was for a breach of policy / conflict of interest, while a fifth related to inaccurate mileage claims.
The figures were released in a Freedom of Information request to County Hall, which also showed just over a quarter of the investigations were as a result of whistleblowing.
The 11 cases led to one staff member being sacked and two disciplinaries, while eight resulted in no further actions.
There was also a reported whistleblowing case against a councillor made in 2012/3 but the allegation proved unfounded.
But there were two investigations involving councillors on fraud, corruption and bribery charges. In one case the allegation was proved unfounded. Further action is under consideration for a case dating to 2011/12.
