A Japanese civil servant was fined and publicly reprimanded in a televised press conference after officials found he had been taking his lunch break three minutes early.
The 64-year-old worker, employed by the water department in the western city of Kobe, was clocked leaving his desk a few minutes before noon on 26 occasions over seven months.
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The errant employee was docked half a day’s pay for unprofessional conduct - but that wasn’t the end of the saga.
City officials called a press conference to address the “scandal”, where they lamented the employee’s “immensely regrettable” offence and bowed in front of reporters as a show of remorse.
The incident “sparked a heated debate on social media”, says The Japan Times, “with many defending the official”.
Coincidentally, the news broke “soon after MPs passed a law intended to address Japan’s punishingly long working hours”, says The Guardian.
The government has come under increasing pressure to address a hierarchical corporate culture which often demands total devotion with little regard for workers’ wellbeing.
Death from overwork is common enough to have its own name - karoshi - while recent high-profile stories have drawn attention to intrusive practices like “pregnancy rotas”, where employees are expected to hold off having a baby until their designated “turn”.
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