Japanese Citizens Are Working to Death
As recent graduates prepare to enter the workplace, the mere prospect of sitting in a cubicle for eight hours a day, seven days a week can be daunting in and of itself. But the tedious routine of the workplace is more than just a chore in Japan, it's becoming an inescapable nightmare. Recent statistics released by the government reveal a massive surge in the number of legal cases filed over "karoshi." This Japanese legal term means "death by overwork" and the number of cases soared to 1,456 in 2015. This nearly equals the 1,576 karoshi cases filed over the course of four years between 2004 and 2008 — shedding a sobering light on the recent climb.
Secretary general of the National Defense Counsel for Victims of karoshi, Hiroshi Kawahito, admitted that the reason for this increase is "an excessive sense of competition in Japanese society" and may very well be 10 times higher due to the government's reluctance to acknowledge the true cause of such incidents. Although almost a quarter of a century has gone by since the "economic bubble" burst in Japan in the 1990's, reducing the excessively long hours proves to be the real problem. It is not uncommon for people to work 12 hours a day due the chronic labor shortage.
Lax enforcement of labor laws regulating minimum wage, holiday time and full-time work hours perpetuates this cycle. Although Japan has comparable labor limitations to other European countries, employers get around them by signing behind-the-door contracts with labor unions and workers. The most common cases of karoshi are identified in the areas of healthcare, social service, shipping and construction. The labor ministry recognizes two types: death by cardiovascular illness (if the employee has worked 100 hours of overtime in the month beforehand or 80 hours of overtime in two or more consecutive months) or death by suicide following work-related mental stress (if the employee has worked 160 hours of overtime in one month or more than 100 hours of overtime for three consecutive months).
Hiring tactics is under the most recent scrutiny. Japan's workforce is divided into two distinct categories: regular employees and those on temporary/non-standard contracts (like women and younger people). Unscrupulous employers will operate under a "bait and switch" policy, advertising a full time position with regular working hours and later giving the successful applicant a non-regular contract with longer hours and no overtime pay — for lack of experience or fear of losing the job, applicants in the second category will often accept the job. Some people do not even make minimum wage under this system; companies may ask an employee for compensation if they work less than 80 hours of overtime that is 'included' in their salary and many get away with hiring employees with the intention of keeping them for only two to three years.
Companies are successfully keeping labor costs down at the price of the mental and physical well-being of their employees. This vicious cycle needs to stop; the longer they turn a blind eye to the problem, the darker it will become.
