Man receives pay cut for taking lunch break 3 mins early

A man has been reprimanded and issued a pay cut after he left for lunch around three minutes early repeatedly in the Western city of Kobe in Japan. A city spokesperson reportedly said that the official left for lunch early 26 times over a period of seven months despite the designated lunch break time from noon to 1pm.

The 64-year-old official who works with the waterworks bureau lost half a day’s pay as punishment and the higher officials at the bureau called for a news conference to apologise. The bureau reportedly said that the worker violated a public service law that stated that officials have to concentrate on their jobs during work hours.

However, the action against the official has drawn large criticism on social media. Similarly, another official in the city was suspended for a month in February for leaving office repeatedly to buy a ready-made lunch box during work hours.