newsflash

Dated: 23 May 08 (my paper)

TOYOTA Motor Corp, which a court recently
ruled had worked one of its employees to death,
said yesterday it would raise the limit on
overtime pay.
Workers at the world’s biggest carmaker are
expected to take part in “voluntary” quality control
activities outside working hours to seek ways to boost
efficiency and quality, but can currently claim
overtime for only two hours of such work a month.
A splinter labour union for Toyota workers
formed in 2006 petitioned labour regulators last
week, asking them to force the company to improve
its ways.
Toyota said in a statement it would expand from
June 1 the range of work it would pay overtime for.
However, the company could not disclose the new
limit, or how much it would affect profits, a
spokesman said.
Overworking is a serious problem in Japan, where
workers are often judged on their dedication and
unions typically toe the company line. On average,
workers uses less than half of their paid holidays,
government figures show.
As more Japanese embrace the idea of balancing
work with leisure, companies in Japan face
increasing claims for work-related depression and
have come under pressure to take responsibility for
karoshi (death from overwork).
Late last year, a district court ruled in favour of a
widow of a Toyota employee who said that overwork
had caused the death of her 30-year-old husband.
He had logged more than 106 hours of overtime
in his final month at a car plant, most of it unpaid,
and the court ruled that his widow was entitled to
government compensation.
This month, a former Mazda Motor Corp worker’s
parents filed a lawsuit against the carmaker, claiming
that harassment and overwork had pushed their
25-year-old son to suicide last year.
The pressure is not just coming in the carmaking sector.
McDonald’s Japan said this week it would begin paying overtime to its restaurant managers from August, after a Tokyo court ordered it to pay7.55 million yen(S$98,916) in overtime and compensation to a former manager.
– REUTERS