As Germany wilts in sweltering temperatures, a manager in a Berlin government office told his 260 sweating workers to go home, a newspaper reported Friday, undermining Germans' reputation for efficiency.
According to the BZ local tabloid, the boss of the Berlin office for tax evasion investigations sent an email to his employees saying: "Everyone should decide for themselves if they feel up to working in these temperatures."
"This decision should be taken before you pass out ... taking time off work today could in many cases be a wise decision which would have my full understanding," wrote Erik Schliephake in the email printed by BZ.
"With greetings bathed in sweat," the boss signed off the note.
The BZ carried the story on its front page with the headline: "Whoever sweats gets to go home."
Berliners have been baking in a seemingly relentless heatwave in recent weeks, with the mercury frequently soaring into the high 30s Celsius (high 90s Fahrenheit) and July on course to be the hottest on record.
tabloid: a newspaper with small pages (usually half the size of those in larger papers).Tabloids usually have short articles and a lot of pictures and stories about famous people, and are thought of as less serious than other newspapers. （小报，通俗小报，版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）
