Employee 4 months into their new job loses 2 days of PTO over an 18 minute lunch break disagreement: '[Boss] told me I took time off on company time and there would be discipline to follow'

Facing punishment for a small indiscretion at work never feels good, even if you have done something technically wrong, it doesn't feel good when the reaction far exceeds the crime. Sure, should you be going 18 minutes over your allotted lunch break just to test the waters, especially only 4 months into a new job? Probably not. However, the punishment needs to match the crime. Taking away their effective ability to earn PTO, which could impact their job and effective earnings for years to come, is a bizarre way to handle what should have been a simple conversation in the first instance. 

This is important because the perks (or lack thereof) of working a role can be just as important as the compensation. Certain benefits and working conditions may lead you to consider roles with lower monetary compensation, and you might consider leaving a job that pays well solely because of the conditions you're working in. Readers of this thread certainly encouraged this employee to quit his job when he was faced with the permanent reduction of two days of PTO accrual a year, all because he was 18 minutes late returning from his lunch break.

See his original account of events below, along with some of the reactions and advice shared by readers.