Train driver sues for HK$4 docked wages

A train driver is suing his employer after his wages were docked 56 yen (HK$4) over a minute-long delay to Japan’s notably punctual rail system, the company said.

The driver filed the suit against the West Japan Railway (JR West) earlier this year after it fined him for a work mix-up in June 2020 which caused the delay, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.

He is seeking 2.2 million yen in damages for mental anguish caused by the ordeal, according to the report.

The driver had been expected to move an empty train to Okayama station in western Japan, but went to the wrong platform.

The mix-up delayed the driver changeover and meant the train departed the station and arrived at the depot a minute later than scheduled, the newspaper said.

The company argues it was appropriate to dock the driver’s wages because no labour was performed during the mix-up.

A JR West spokesman confirmed the lawsuit yesterday, declining to comment “as the suit is pending”.

“The reason why this became a lawsuit is differences over how to interpret” the cause of the delay, he said, adding that the company had applied its “no work, no pay” rule in docking the driver’s wages.

The man, who has not been named, argues that the delay was a minor human error and that he should not have been considered absent from work.

Japan’s rail system is famously efficient, and is often cited as an example for rail networks around the world.

In 2017, a local railway operator made international headlines after issuing a deep apology for the “tremendous nuisance” caused by departure of a train 20 seconds early.