[Drumlin]

I used to work with a programmer who literally did nothing for over a year - he came into the office and sat there browsing the web. He was the highest paid employee. Everyone knew it was happening (including the clients) but no one mentioned it.

The company was too small to promote him to a manager position, which as far as I can tell is how the situation is often dealt with in big companies, i.e. pass the buck to another department.