Attention Smokers! Employee Fined Over Rs 9 Lakh For Taking Too Many Smoke Breaks During Work Hours
Osaka: We all are aware that smoking kills but are you aware that it can also harm you salary? Recently, a Japanese employee was penalized for smoking during work hours more than 4,500 times in 14 years. The 61-year-old civil servant was fined 1.44 million yen, or approximately Rs 8.94 lakh, of his wages, reported the Japanese outlet The Mainichi.
According to reports, the 61-year-old employee and two of his coworkers in the prefecture’s finance department received 10% salary reductions for six months due to their frequent use of tobacco while at work, despite numerous warnings from Osaka officials.
Throughout his employment, he took over 3,400 unauthorized smoke breaks, the report in the publication said.
The human resources department learned about the three employees’ covert tobacco storage in September 2022 thanks to an anonymous tip.
After learning about the incident, their supervisor called them and warned of dire consequences if they were caught smoking again. However, the trio continued smoking.
Criticism received due to penalty
According to The Strait Times, the penalty has received sympathetic responses. While some said that having to leave the premises for a puff would have resulted in additional time wasted. Others thought the punishment was excessive, arguing that since people can spend time conversing, eating snacks, and sipping tea, smoking should not be punished either.
Osaka has some of the strictest smoking laws in the world and, in 2008, it introduced a total ban on government premises such as offices and public schools. Government employees have also been banned from lighting up while on duty since 2019.
Another such incident
In 2019, a high school teacher in Osaka was similarly disciplined with a temporary pay cut after he was found to have taken around 3,400 illicit smoke breaks. He was also asked to return one million yen of his salary to the education ministry.