Posted on 06/21/2018 6:52:32 AM PDT by EdnaMode
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Props! About time they started cracking down on these slackards.
“Gotta nip it in the bud, Andy”
Dang! A government worker! I’m shocked!....................
“Nip it!”
So just how much time did the senior officials waste on the news conference? Couldn’t they have been doing something more productive?
Either you have standards, or you do not.
Better to be known to uphold the standards exactly, than to have everyone always probing, wondering, how much am I allowed to get away with, today?
“A spokesman for the bureau told AFP: “The lunch break is from noon to 1pm. He left his desk before the break.”
We need this guy in DC!
Yeah definitely.
>>We need this guy in DC!<<
No! More bureaucrats at their desks thinking up new taxes and regulations is bad for America. Just be thankful you don’t get all the government you pay for.
/s
60 minutes wasn’t enough for lunch?
The message was meant for everyone else.
The guy didn't do it once, he made a habit of it. The time spent at the conference will be made up by that guy not doing it again as well as others who will stop doing the same.
Let 'em know you will stop the small infringements and you won't have to handle bigger ones.
Straight out of the "broken windows" school of business management.
Three whole minutes? Scrooge would have been proud.
What do you want to bet he (1) started work at least 3 minutes early every day (2) returned from lunch 3 minutes early, so only took an hour?
Had to get to the cafeteria before they ran out on larmen day.
Sounds as though the Japanese don’t let their “public servants” watch porn all day, the slave drivers.
Three whole minutes? Scrooge would have been proud.
Times 26, that he was caught. Who knows how many they missed? And how about his compatriots?
“The nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.