Japanese Public Service has issued a public apology after their 64-year-old employee took lunch break three minutes early 26 times. He had similarly left his desk over a period of seven months. After the issued grabbed international attention, the managers of the waterworks bureau organised a televised press conference in which the bosses bowed to apologise for the employee's "deeply regrettable" actions. The man was also fined half a day's pay for his actions.

"It is very regrettable that such a scandal has occurred, I am sorry," one of the managers said during the televised press conference. However, it caused outrage on social media with people defending the employee. Internet users said that the man had done it only once a week on an average and should have either been forgiven or left with a warning.

The man was reported to the authorities by a fellow colleague who saw the kept a tab on his trips to a nearby restaurant through the window of the director's office. A spokesperson told the Japan Times, "The lunch break is from noon to 1 pm. He left his desk before the break. It's deeply regrettable that this misconduct took place. We're sorry."

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According to the bureau, the 64-year-old worker had violated a public service law and said that the officials should concentrate on their work when in office. Japan is known for their punctuality which can be seen in their services. Recently, a rail company had apologised for leaving a train station a few seconds early.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 22, 2018 05:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).