TOKYO — Time is money, the saying goes. A Japanese train driver is going to court over one minute of each.
SoraNews24 reports the driver, who works for the Okayama branch of West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) is seeking 56 yen (49 U.S. cents) in wages he was docked for a 1-minute delay in departing a station with a deadhead move to a rail yard — as well as 13 yen in lost overtime, and 2.2 million yen ($19,319) for mental anguish.
The driver says he was waiting for a train to arrive at the Okayama station so he could take it over for the deadhead move when he realized he was waiting at the wrong platform. By the time he reached the correct platform, the resulting 2-minute delay in the transfer between drivers led to a 1-minute delay in departing, as well as a 1-minute delay in parking the train at the yard. JR West initially docked him 2 minutes’ pay, saying no work was performed during that time, but reduced it to 1 minute after the driver took the matter to government labor officials.
The driver contends no pay should be docked because the matter occurred during his work shift, but the railroad says it applied the “no work, no pay principle” in reducing his pay, as it would for late arrival to work or absenteeism.
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