A Japanese water company has fined a worker part of his wages and released a video in which senior company officials offer a full and frank apology, after a worker was found to have wasted company time by having his lunch.
As anyone who works knows, having some time in the day to gather your thoughts is an important thing. You can't be expected to be at your desk for every single minute between 9am until 5pm every single day. What a way to make a living, eh?
However, according to the Kobe City Waterworks Bureau, this worker has simply been taking the piss with his extended lunch breaks.
So, how much skiving has this charlatan been up to? Well, the 64-year-old lazybones took a whole 72 minutes' worth of lunch break. The cheek of the guy.
What's more, this villain took that amount of time off from his duties over the course of a whole SEVEN months.
Wait, what?
The water company said that by taking a trip to the shop to get a bite to eat in three-minute intervals over a number of months (about once a week) between September 2017 and March 2018 he was taking liberties with company time.
Their statement, which was televised and featured a number of stern-looking men sat at a desk in an office, said: "It's immensely regrettable that such a scandal took place, and we wish to express our sincere apologies."
Advert
Seriously? It's fine. Let the guy have his lunch.,
According to the worker's superior, he kept leaving the office so that he could get a 'change of pace'.
Considering the number of people who will probably read this on their own lunch breaks, whether waiting for a kettle to boil or sat on the throne, we can all relate.
However, those sorts of shenanigans would be considered abject laziness in Japan. Many workers toil for more than 80 hours every week and often work some of that overtime unpaid, according to a 2016 government survey.
The same survey found that 12 percent of Japanese workers clock in more than 100 hours every week. That's definitely too much.
They are entitled by law to take 20 days of annual leave every year, however it is estimated that over a third of people don't bother.
So, just bear that in mind next time you spend an extra couple of minutes in the supermarket staring indecisively at the rows of unappetising sandwiches.
Grab yourself one from the 'Finest' range and be glad that your boss isn't preparing to explain your dithering to the TV cameras, you beautiful, bone-idle lot.
Featured Image Credit: Asian Broadcasting CorporationTopics: Work, World News, News, Job, Weird, Japan