Disciplinary Action for Public Enterprise Employee Habitually Leaving Work Early by 20-30 Minutes

Gas Technology Corporation Employee... Caught by Internal Report
30 Early Departures Totaling 8 Hours 36 Minutes in One Year
Request for One-Month Salary Reduction Disciplinary Action

An employee of a public enterprise was caught in an internal audit for habitually leaving work 20 to 30 minutes early without informing colleagues. His habitual early departures were uncovered after an internal staff member reported noticing his frequent absence from the office around quitting time, with vehicle exit time records serving as decisive evidence.

Korea Gas Technology Corporation
Photo by Yonhap News

On the 20th, Yonhap News reported that the audit office of Korea Gas Technology Corporation recently requested the HR department to impose a salary reduction penalty on employee A, who habitually left the workplace before the official quitting time.

The corporation’s audit office reviewed one year’s worth of departure times and confirmed that A habitually left work 20 to 30 minutes early. Over the past year, A left early on about 30 days, and the total time worked less than the regular hours due to early departures was calculated to be 8 hours and 36 minutes.

The corporation’s working hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but A was found to have left the office up to 1 hour and 20 minutes early. There were also 10 occasions when A left less than 10 minutes early. Additionally, on days when A applied for a half-day afternoon leave, he left an hour early, and on days when he applied for overtime work, he still left 20 to 30 minutes early.

His habitual early departures were revealed after an employee reported to the audit office. The employee noticed that A was frequently absent from the office around quitting time and reported this to the audit office, which was able to estimate A’s departure times based on vehicle exit records and thus detect the misconduct. It was investigated that A’s supervisor was unaware of this situation.

A explained that most of his early departures were due to household matters, but he reportedly could not recall the reason for leaving early on days when he had applied for overtime work.

On the 9th, the corporation’s audit office decided to impose a one-month salary reduction penalty on A. Furthermore, it pointed out the need for institutional improvements to the HR department, stating, "There are difficulties in managing early leave requests submitted and approved in writing, and the criteria for deducting pay for time not worked are ambiguous."

The corporation’s HR department responded, "We have received the disciplinary request from the audit office and plan to verify the facts. We intend to determine the final disciplinary level after gathering the opinions of the involved party and the personnel committee."