Japanese worker punished for starting lunch three minutes early

Japanese worker punished for starting lunch three minutes early
Managers called TV news conference and bowed in apology at employee’s ‘deeply regrettable’ actions


Japan’s commitment to addressing its dismal record on work-life balance has been called into question after a civil servant was punished for “habitually” slipping away from his desk a few minutes early to buy a bento lunch.

The 64-year-old, an employee of the waterworks bureau in the western city of Kobe, was fined and reprimanded after he was found to have left his desk just three minutes before the start of his designated lunch break on 26 occasions over a seven-month period.

Senior officials at the bureau then called a televised news conference, where they described the man’s conduct as “deeply regrettable” and bowed in apology.

A spokesman for the bureau told AFP: “The lunch break is from noon to 1pm. He left his desk before the break.”


The worker had violated a public service law requiring officials to “concentrate on their jobs”, according to the bureau.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/21/japanese-worker-punished-for-starting-lunch-three-minutes-early