The manager decided to wink at the employees taking extra long breaks.
wink at
idiomTo turn a blind eye to (something); to corruptly ignore (some wrongdoing); to pretend not to have seen (something); to signal one's approval of (illicit activities) while maintaining the ability to plausibly deny knowing about it; to tolerate or tacitly encourage (inappropriate, immoral or illegal behavior).
The local authorities often wink at small building violations if the owners promise to fix them eventually.
By choosing to wink at the questionable accounting practices of his subordinates, the director inadvertently allowed a culture of corruption to flourish within the firm.