So what is it about a system where everyone and every business adjusts their schedule slightly (I guess independently) of each other that is better than the leap second system we have now. Which, as I said earlier, is essentially the same thing, but done in a standardized way.

Timekeeping at the abstraction level where business hours exist is a lot more tolerant of 40 seconds of error than at the abstraction level where timekeeping primitives are implemented.

> earlier or later

My understanding was that leap seconds are only ever added. It’s not like this averages out over time. The problem is that because they are only added the effect is cumulative and eventually some future generation will be eating lunch at 00:00:00.

There is a provision for negative leap seconds. In practice, this has never happened.

Hasn't happened, but it may actually happen in the next half-decade or so. If not, it's almost guaranteed to happen ~25 years from now.

Thanks, I skimmed the wiki and it sounded like they could only be added.