Bosses dock man’s pay and apologise on TV after he goes to lunch three minutes early

Japan’s brutal long-hours culture was thrown into the spotlight this week after a man had pay docked for going to lunch three minutes early – and his bosses apologised on TV.

HIs bosses made a televised apology after the man began his designated lunch break three minutes early 26 times over the space of seven months.

A company spokesman at Kobe waterworks bureau said, ‘The lunch break is from noon to 1 p.m. He left his desk before the break.

‘It’s deeply regrettable that this misconduct took place. We’re sorry.’

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The worker, who was not named, was docked half a day’s pay for the offence, with bosses saying he was in violation of public service laws.

He was spotted when bosses saw him out the window crossing the road to buy a bento box.

The TV conference sparked debate on social media, with one commenter saying, ‘Is this a bad joke? Does this mean we cannot even go to the bathroom?.’