Asia Pacific Business & Economics Perspectives, Winter 2016, 4(2). 49 Karoshi and Karou-jisatsu in Japan: causes, statistics and prevention mechanisms Behrooz Asgari Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Beppu, Japan [email protected]Peter Pickar and Victoria Garay Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Beppu, Japan ABSTRACT It has been long known that Japan has a penchant for work and loyalty. While hard work and loyalty are generally a positive trait, there is a fine line between productivity and overwork which results in negative side effects and health issues, often leaning to premature death or suicide. This effect has been known in Japan as “karoshi”, a word meaning death due to overwork; or in the case of suicide due to overwork, “karo-jisatsu”. This paper aims to explore the surrounding causes, background, current data and prevention mechanisms that afflict Japan and its culture of “salary-man sudden death syndrome”. Keywords: karoshi, karo-jisatsu, syndrome BACKGROUND Japan has a long history of loyalty and servitude stemming from its pre-war days and Code of Bushido, where “citizens lived in circumstances bordering on poverty” (Herbig & Palumbo, 1994). During these times, daily necessities were in short, with only the basics to live being in supply. The mentality of this time was to “self-sacrifice for the country” (Herbig & Palumbo, 1994) in an expression of loyalty, so the country could move forward in their endeavors. This generation was known as the “have” generation and their traits of loyalty and self-sacrifice were transferred forward to the ensuing generation. The post-war generation known as the “do” generation, appeared when the first baby-boom phenomenon “reached maturity in the height of Japan’s economic growth in the 1960’s” (Herbig & Palumbo, 1994) and readily applied their previous generations way of thinking to the business world. The “do” generation differed greatly from the “have” generation in the fact that all their basic needs were met with abundance, and instead of a desire to serve their country, their aim was to serve their company through loyalty and hard work, with an interest in self-advancement. The new mentality was “those who work long hours are positively rewarded” (Herbig & Palumbo, 1994). This generation was also dubbed as the “workaholic” generation, and was the first to suffer from karoshi and karo- jisatsu. Karoshi is loosely defined as death due to overwork, or more specifically the “fatal condition in which the living rhythm of a human being is collapsed due to excessive fatigue
Ithasbeen longknownthatJapanhasapenchantforworkand loyalty.Whilehardworkand loyalty are generally a positive trait, there is a fine line between productivity andoverwork which results in negative side effects and health issues, often leaning topremature death or suicide. This effect has been known in Japan as “karoshi”, a wordmeaningdeathduetooverwork;or inthecaseofsuicideduetooverwork,“karo-jisatsu”.This paper aims to explore the surrounding causes, background, current data andprevention mechanisms that afflict Japan and its culture of “salary-man sudden deathsyndrome”.Keywords:karoshi,karo-jisatsu,syndrome
CodeofBushido,where“citizens lived incircumstancesborderingonpoverty” (Herbig&Palumbo,1994).Duringthesetimes,dailynecessitieswereinshort,withonlythebasicstolive being in supply. The mentality of this time was to “self-sacrifice for the country”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994)inanexpressionofloyalty,sothecountrycouldmoveforwardintheir endeavors. This generationwas knownas the “have” generation and their traits ofloyaltyandself-sacrificeweretransferredforwardtotheensuinggeneration.
The post-war generation known as the “do” generation, appeared when the firstbaby-boomphenomenon“reachedmaturity in theheightof Japan’seconomicgrowth inthe1960’s”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994)andreadilyappliedtheirpreviousgenerationswayof thinking to the businessworld. The “do” generation differed greatly from the “have”generationinthefactthatalltheirbasicneedsweremetwithabundance,andinsteadofadesire to serve their country, their aimwas to serve their company through loyalty andhardwork,withaninterestinself-advancement.Thenewmentalitywas“thosewhoworklonghours arepositively rewarded” (Herbig&Palumbo, 1994). This generationwas alsodubbedasthe“workaholic”generation,andwasthefirsttosufferfromkaroshiandkaro-jisatsu.
Karoshi is loosely defined as death due to overwork, ormore specifically the “fatalconditioninwhichthelivingrhythmofahumanbeingiscollapsedduetoexcessivefatigue
andthelifemaintenancefunctionisruined”asdefinedbytheCouncilforKaroshiVictimsin1989.Themajormedicalcausesofdeathduetokaroshiare“heartattackandstrokeduetostress”(Der-Shin,2012)attributedto[1]longworkinghoursand[2]stress.Forkaro-jisatsu,death is a combination of physical and psychological ailments such as failure to meetemployer’s expectations, increase in job responsibility or work related to psychologicalstresswhichresultinsuicideduetooverwork.
The term karoshi first appeared around the early 1970’s and stems from theword“kacho-byo”which literally translates to bosses-disease. Kacho-byowasmeant to definethe “psychological and moral ailment of middle managers resulting from stress, worryaboutpromotion,fate,makingitornot”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994)coupledwithlittlerestthatailed Japanesemanagement.The firstcaseofkaroshiwas reported in1969ofa29-year-oldmalewhosuddenlydiedinashippingdepartmentofamajorJapanesenewspapercompany.Japanhasbeenreluctanttoaddresskaroshianditwasnotuntilthelate1980’swhen “several business executives who were in the prime of their years suddenly diedwithout any previous signs of illness” (Der-Shin, 2012). This finally attracted mediaattentiontotheissuewiththegovernmentdraggingitsfeettoaddresstheissueandonlyfinallybeginningtopublishdataonkaroshiin1987.
Outsidepressureon thegovernment toaddress karoshi andkaro-jisatsuhavebeenmountingoverthedecades.TheMinistryofHeath,LaborandWelfare(MHLW)haveonlyrecentlydefinedkaroshias“suddendeathofanyemployeewhoworksanaverageof65hours perweekormore formore than4weeksor on averageof 60hours ormoreperweek for more than 8 weeks” (Hiyama & Yoshihara). The government’s reluctance toaddresskaroshiandkaro-jisatsucannotbepinnedtooneproblem,butrathertoaeulogyofproblemssuchasthereluctancetopayoutworkerscompensationorbenefits,disturbthe economy or business culture, international image and fear of mass compensationclaims.
Medically speaking, death by karoshi can be attributed to several symptoms,mostnotably, acute heart failure and subarachnoid hemorrhage. This can be seen in Table 1below,aswellassymptomsofburnoutanddepression.Karoshiissaidtobeasilentkillerwithlittletonosymptomsbeingpresentbeforedeath.Workersmaypresentnoobvioussymptomsorsignsofheartorbrainproblemsbutcanbevisiblypresentwithdepressionorburn-out syndrome (Der-Shin, 2012) such as stiffness of joints and neck, frequent
headaches, changes in weight, lack of concentration, insomnia, fatigue or chronicdepression.
Karoshi strikes victims in theprimeof theirworking years and in everyoccupation,although the “white-collar salary-man ismost susceptible” (Herbig&Palumbo,1994). Ithas been noted that since the economic bubble burst, Japan has tried to increaseproductivity by increasing working hours rather than hiring new employees that furtherafflictthewhite-collarworkplaces.
Culture factorsplay amajor role in theprevalenceof stress and longworkinghoursleading to karoshi and karo-jisatsu in Japan. As mentioned above, Japan’s culture hasevolvedaroundloyaltyandservitudetothecountry,whichwaslater,translatedtoloyaltyandservitudetotheworkplace.InJapan,“loyaltytotheorganizationisoftenmeasuredbythetimespentatone’sdesk” (Herbig&Palumbo,1994).This loyalty isoftenseenasthereluctancetogohomeuntiltheirbossgoeshome–andtheirbossistypicallyunwillingtogohomeuntilhisbossgoeshome.Thisleadsworkersto“stayonuntil10:00or11:00pmorlatermerelytoimpressthebossorthefewwhoactuallywork”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994).Duringthistimeproductivityislow,withworkersoftendoingmenialorunrelatedtaskstolook busy in the eyes of the boss and fellow co-workers. If a worker has the notion ofleaving early, they risk losing credibility in the eyes of their peers andmanagers.Moreoften thannot, thisunpaidovertime isexpectedasan“expressionofdedication to theircompaniesandacriterionforpromotion”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994).
Another cultural factor is the unpaid extracurricular activities or “service overtime”thatare,moreoftenthannot,requiredofworkers.Theseextracurricularactivitiesincludeentertaining customers, rounds of golf with bosses, karaoke, nomihodai, etc., which are“expectedofconscientiousemployeeswhichaddsconsiderablytotheofficialworkhours”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994).Theseactivitiestypicallytakeplaceoutsidetheworkplaceandworkhoursresultinginlittlerestanddowntimeforworkers.
ThesocialcultureoffamilyandmasculinityinJapanareofnohelptothesalary-maneither.InJapan,itisexpectedthatthemanofthefamilyshouldbethebreadwinnerthus“the company is one’s first priority; social, peer and family pressures abound; anythingdifferentwillbeshunnedbypeers”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994).Deviationfromthisisseenascallouswhereitisthewomen’sjobtoraisethechildrenandtakecareofthehome.Inprinciple, theworkaholic culture is endorsedby the family and seen as a givenduty. Inshort, the life-style and culture of a typical salary-man in Japan can be captured in thissimplequote:
“[The salary-man] is typically involvedneither in theeducationnor theupbringingofhischildren,whoarevirtuallyunknowntohim.Heholdshiswiferesponsiblefortheirchildren’ssuccessorfailure.HetoilssixdaysaweekwithonlySundaysoff;eventhenaround of company golf may be dictated. He suffers through Sundays, eyes bleatedfrom rounds of corporate drinking the night before. Often he spends all of Sunday
Vacation or down time is quite taboo among salary-men as well. With a culture
pointed to loyalty and the display of it, companies often let their employees know that“vacationsarenotwelcome”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994). Astudyperformedaround1994bytheJapanFederationofEmployers’Association,foundthat15percentofcompaniesdonotfavorablylookuponvacationtimeandlessthat30percentofworkersobserveallthreeholidays;NewYear’sholiday,GoldenWeekandaweekrestinsummer.Althoughworkersare permitted to twoweeks paid leave during summer, hardly anyworkers take the fulltime“becauseoffanaticalcompanyloyalty,mosttakeonlytwoorthreedaysifthatmany”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994).
Withlittledowntime,aworkenvironmentbasedon“desktime”andaculturewhichendorsesit, it istheJapanesewhobringuponthemselvesthiscultureof longworkhoursandstresswhichleadtophysicalandmentalhealthissuesresultinginkaroshi,depressionandburnoutwhichleadtokaro-jisatsu.PsychologicalFactors
The Japanese are a very self-conscious people, often extremely conscious of whatother people think. A typical saying in Japan is “the nail that sticks up gets hammereddown”, implying someone “outof line”will be forced to return to the statusquoof thesociety. Thisapplies for the salary-manaswell. Inahighly culturallyappointed society,whereeveryoneisexpectedtoworkhard,the“salary-manoftenthinkshetoomustworkhardorelsehewill feelguilty”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994). Thisnotion leadstooverworkand stressbutmoreover,psychological sideeffectswhere the salary-man feels it is theirduty to fit in and perform to expectations. Thismentalitymakes it hard forworkers tostop,say“no”orconfrontstheirbosseswhenfacedwithexcessiveovertime,ortheneedtotaketimeoff.
In numerous cases, companieswhich are built upon traditional Japanese values areveryconcernedwithorder,structureandpower.ThisnotionoriginatesfromtheCodeofBushido where the “Japanese believe they are creating conditions for happiness andmakingamoral personhappyby allowinghim toworkhard” (Herbig&Palumbo,1994).Workisconsideredalmostareligiousexperiencewherepeerpressuretoconformtotheserigorousandcultureexpectationsofthejobareexpected.Todeviateisconsidereddisloyalandtoquestionotherwise isconsideredmorallyunsound. Rather it is“whatonedoes ifone is a respected member of the community, regardless of whether or not anythingproductiveisaccomplished”(Herbig&Palumbo,1994).Topushworkerstopsychologicallyimplement unhealthy practices can only lead to depression and burnout – two majorcausesofkaro-jisatsu.
Labor data, work-related suicides have risen to 45% in past four years (2011 to 2014)amongthosewhowere29yearsoldandyounger–additionallyamongwomen,increasingupto39%.
Due to the shrinking population in Japan, the labor demand has increased to thehighest levels since 1991, with 1.28 jobs per applicant. Some businesses are simply
AccordingtoHiroshiKawahito,thesecretary-generaloftheNationalDefenseCounselforVictimsofKaroshiwhohasbeendealingwithcasessincethe1980s,believesthatthetruefigurescouldbe10timeshigherthanofficialrecords.Hebelievesthatthegovernmentisreluctanttorecognizesuchcases.Hefurtheraddedthatthegovernmentshostsalotofsymposiumsandmakesposters about this issuebut this is propaganda.Kawahito claimsthattherealproblemisreducingworkinghoursandgovernmentisnotdoingenough.Onotherhand,accordingtotheMinistryofLabor,thenumberofcompensationclaimsrelatedto death from overwork, or Karoshi, has risen. Figure 1 below shows the number ofcompensatedcasesforKaroshiandKaro-jisatsuthatwerecompensatedbytheMinistryofLabor.
InNovember2014, theTokyoDistrictCourtordereda restaurant chainoperator topay57.9millionyenindamagestothefamilyofaformermanagerofoneofitsoutletsinTokyo, who hanged himself in 2010. According to the Japan Times, the 24 years oldmanagerhadworkedanaverageofmorethan190hoursovertimemonthly, inlastsevenmonthspriortohisdeath.Atthesametime,theKumamotoDistrictCourtorderedalocalbank topay130millionyen incompensation to the familyof40yearoldemployeewhocommitted suicide after suffering from depression that the court determined had beeninducedfromoverwork.
Japanhasnolegal“limits”onworkinghours,buttheMinistryofLaborrecognizestwotypesofKaroshi:deathformcardiovascularillnesslinkedtooverworkandsuicidedueworkrelated mental stress. A cardiovascular death is likely to be considered as Karoshi if anemployee works 100 hours of overtime in themonth before the death, or 80 hours ofovertimeworkintwoormoreconsecutivemonths. Inaddition,asuicideisconsideredasKaroshi ifanemployeeworks160hoursormoreofovertimeinonemonthormorethan100hoursofovertimeforthreeconsecutivemonths.
According to the former “Standards on Recognition” of Labor accidents (LaborStandard Bureau Notification No. 38 and No. 30) issued in 1995 and 1996 respectively,excessiveworkduringveryshortperiodoftimebeforethediseaseonset(thepreviousdayorwithinaweek)wasacceptedasadirectcauseofcerebrovasculardisease,ischemicheartmalfunctionandarrhythmias(Araki,&Iwasaki,2005).
Incontrast,basedontheresultofepidemiologyresearchconductedlater,theExpertStudyCommitteeonStandardRecognizingBrainandHeartDiseasesoftheMHLWreachedanewconclusionthistime,thatoverworkcarriedoutoveralongperiodoftime,fromoneto sixmonths prior the onset of the disease, could be deemed as the principal cause ofailment. Furthermore, based on this new accession, excessive working hours wereintroduced as an indicator of accumulated fatigue, thus, enabling clear and promptjudgmentoftheextendofoverworkwhencertifyinglaboraccidents(Araki,S.,&Iwasaki,K.2005).
Everyyear in Japan, thousandsofworkersaredying fromoverwork.According toaU.Knewsagency,KiyotakaSerizawawasoneofthem.InJuly2015,Serizawakilledhimselfafter working 90 hours per week in a company that provided residential buildingmaintenance.Hisfather,KiyoshiSerizawa,saidinaninterviewattheirfamilyhome:"Theysaidthey'dneverseenanyonewhodidn'tevenownthecompanyworksohard”.In2015,theMHLWclassified189deathsasKaroshi,whichwereeitherfromafatalheartattackorstroke,orasuicidetriggeredbyoverwork.
AccordingtotheInternationalLaborOrganization(ILO),karoshistemsfromoverworkand the buildup of work-related stress which manifest itself through following forms(InternationalLaborOrginazation,2013):
1. Excessive hours at the workplace. Especially seen in workers who perform all-nighters,latenightorholidaywork,outsidetheirnormalhoursofoperation.Thisresults directly from the long-termeconomic recession after the collapse of thebubble economy in in the1980’s and1990’s. During this period, firms reducedstaffwhilemaintainingworkloadstomeetever-tighteningbudgets,requiringstafftoworkharderandlonger.
3. The culture of lifetime employment places workers at odds with ever-shrinkingshoestringbudgetsthatresultcutbacks.Loyalemployeeswhogavethecompanyyears of service were forced to resign, or were bullied into resignation causingdeeppsychologicalstressanddamage.
4. Middle management was caught in the crosshairs of protecting their staff andcorporaterestructuring.Thisresultedinemotionaldistressofhavingtobeartheresponsibilityoftargetingworkersfor layoffs,aswellasbearingthebruntoftheprotests against the new corporate restructure. Many of these karoshi casesresultedinkaro-jisatsu.
casesofworkerswhosufferedfromstrokesandheartattacksorweredriventodepressionor suicide by unrelenting job demands. Work hours are a major impediment to equalopportunity,sinceworkingmotherscannotdevotethelonghoursexpectedofprofessionalemployeesandsomustoptforlow-paying,low-statusjobs(Scott,2009/2010).Familylifeisaffectedbecausemanyyoungerindividualspostponeorabandonhopesofmarriageandchildren as they sacrifice their personal lives to stay employed. Furthermore,while longworkhoursandoverworkarecommoninmanycountries,notablytheUSandBritain,onlyinJapanhaskaroshibeenofficiallyrecognizedasamedico-legalphenomenonforthepasttwodecades,andonly[Japan]hasspawnedasocialmovementtocombatit(North,1999).
Japan's employers and conservative policymakers have long held that the country'spatternofincrementalandconsensualpolicymakingiseffectiveinimprovingemploymentconditions,whileavoidingtheeconomicrigiditiesofwesternnations.Theresultsincethe1950’s has been labor legislation that consistently lags behind labor market trends, orseeks merely to defuse complaints from trade partners that poor labor standardsconstitute unfair trade practices (Manabu). Work-hour-related policy making closelymatchesthispattern:longworkhourshaveprovokedconsistentattemptsatreformsincethe late 1960s, and reformers made several significant revisions to labor laws between1987 and 1993, but failed to significantly affect actual practice. While many largemanufacturingfirmsdidreduceworkinghoursaroundthistime,theywerereactingnottolegislation, but rather to labor shortages and economic stagnation (Foote, 1997). Someofficial statistics, alongwithnumerous reportsof uncompensatedovertime, suggest thatwork hours lengthened over the past decade, despite a record-long six-year economicexpansionthatshouldhavegeneratedpressureforimprovingworkconditions.Workplacestress-relatedillnessesanddeathsareatrecordhighlevels(KenjiIwasaki&nakata,2006).BelowFigure2,showsthetrendinsuicidedeathinPostwarJapan(Period:1949–1999).
The suicide rate isdisplayedas thenumberof suicidesper100,000people. This suicideratecalculationbasedondatafromtheNationalPoliceAgencyandtheStatisticsBureauof
theManagement and Coordination Agency (‘population estimate as of October 1 everyyear’)foryearfrom1949to1999.
The unemployment rate (ratio of wholly unemployed) was provided from the datafrom the Japanese Statistics Bureau of the Management and Coordination Agency(‘statisticsonlabourforcereview’1955–1999).
problem in the 1980’s when several prominent businessmen, in the prime of their lifesuddenlypassed-away.Intheyearssince,deathduetooverworkhasbeenontheriseinJapan,withrecentfiguressuggestingkaroshibeingthecauseofdeathforover200peoplein the past year. To copewith the rising numbers of death by overwork and claims ofworkers compensation, the Japanese cabinet passed a new legislation in July 2015 toinvestigatethecausesofkaroshiandotherwork-relatedproblems(Bo&Oda,2015).Thislegislation marks the first time in Japan, that the government has become serious inconductingresearchsurroundingkaroshiandtheinvestigationofpreventionmechanisms.
Theannouncementofthislegislationhasbeenlongsoughtbyfamiliesandfriendswhohavelostlovedonestokaroushi,orbeendeniedrightfulsettlementsduetotheridgedandoftenunfair lawsdefiningkaroushi. Suchexampleofthiscanbeseenthe2015caseofa33-year-oldmanwhosuddenlydiedofischemicheartfailure,afterworkingexcessivehoursinaphonesalescompanyinKobe. Becausehiscircumstancesdidnotmeettherequiredlaws to receive workers compensation - namely exceeding 80 hours of overtime onaverage, in the two to six months prior to death, the labor standards inspection officeturneddownthecaseforeligibility.Outraged,hisfamilymembersfilledalawsuitwiththeOsakaDistrictCourtsystemtooverturnthe laborstandards inspectionofficer’s judgmentregarding the case. The Osaka Dist. Court overruled the labor standards findings on
groundsthatawidervarietyoffactorsneededtobetakenintoconsideration,suchastheworker had averaged 89 hours of overtimemonthly in the three years prior (Bo&Oda,2015). Judgmentonworkingconditionswasalsomade,withthecourtfindingthevictimworkedunderexcessivestressfromhavingtorespondregularlytocustomerclaims.
The response to recognize andaddress karoshi from the governmenthasbeen slowand deliberate, namely due to the fear that it would stagnate Japan’s high economicgrowth. Thiswasespecially trueduring thepre-bubble Japaneseeconomyand itwasn’tuntil 1995 that the government finally settled on a limited definition of karoshi, whichrequired conditions to be present one week before the development of death. Theseregulations and limitations were gradually relaxed, and in 2001 new limitations wereintroducedwhichspecifiedanextendedperiodofsixmonthsbetakenintoconsideration.
In the 2014 fiscal year, itwas reported by theMHLW that 121 cases of deathwererecognizeddue tokaroshi. Of thesecases,99weredocumentedaskaru-jisatsu, (suicidecaused by overwork). However, these statistics are only thought to be the tip of theicebergduetotheJapanesegovernment’sstringentdefinitionofkaroshi.Whencomparedwith statistics from the National Police Agency and other relevant authorities, it showsaround2,000workersannuallycommitsuicidebecauseoftroubleattheirworkplaces.
To demonstrate the lack of a fair and well-defined criterion to judge karoshi, theverdictsof74casesofworkersdeath,judgednottohavebeentheresultofkaroshiwereoverturned in the five-yearperiod from2009 to2014. Theseoverturned casesdisputedtheoriginalfindingsofthelaborstandardsinspectionofficeandwereprincipallyachievedthrough lawsuitsmandatingreexaminationofthecircumstancessurroundingtheworkersdeath.Becauseof thegovernments lackorthereofto fullyrecognizekaroshiasaseriouscauseofdeath, there liesadeepdistrustbetweenthefamiliesofvictimsofkaroshi, thatgovernment’s legislation actually reflects reality. This notion of distrust and evermorefrequent upending of karoshi cases in court has prompted the Japanese government tofinallyaddresskaroshibyimplementinglarge-scaleresearch.
The government’s research into karoshi andotherwork related issueswas slated tostartin2015,andbeginwiththeexaminationofworker’scompensationclaimsthatledtothedevelopmentofkaroshi.Theresearchaimstogatherdataonworkinghours,working
conditions before and after the symptoms surfaced, as well as problems in the past toidentifycommontrends that result inkaroshiandkaru-jisatsu. Theresearchadditionallyaimstoexpanditshorizonstocasesinwhichworkers’compensationsclaimswereturneddown,inadditiontothestudyofself-employedworkersandpublicservants.
Atpresent, theLaborStandardsActof1947stipulatesthatemployersshallnothaveworkersworkmore than8hoursaday, foreachdayof theweek, resulting ina40-hourworkweek.Whilea40-hourworkweekismostun-heardofinJapan,theeffectiveovertimeacompanycan force itsemployees toperformcanbeextended indefinitely ifemployersandlaborunionssignagreements.ThisdeceitfulmethodhasleftJapan’sworkerssufferingtheburdenofexcessive involuntaryovertimecompared to theirEuropeanandAmericanneighbors.
While the government’s research is still incomplete, many Japanese companies arestarting to recognize thedetrimental effectsof excessiveovertime.Corporations suchasKaoarebeginningtolookintotheactualtimeworkersspendattheirjobs,ratherthantheself-reportedfigures,throughelectronicentriesandexitsofofficebuildings.Thecompanyis additionally concerned with the amount of stress employees confront in an effort toreducethelikelihoodofkaroshionmultiplefronts.Additionally,corporationssuchasKDDIandJoyfulhavebeguntoimplementeddifferentmeasures,suchasaintervalsystemthatforbids employees to return to work until a eight-hour period has passed to combatfatigue.
CURRENTKAROSHIDATAFROMMHLWOn 25 June 2015 the MHLW of Japan released the "Status of Occupational
In 2014, the total number of claims regarding brain and heart diseases asconsequences of overwork totaled 763 cases. Out of this number, 637 cases wereapproved by MHLW. Decisively, only 277 cases received compensation: a rate of only
43.5% from approved cases (where female cases accounted for 22.4%). There was adecreaseof21claimsincomparisonwiththepreviousyear(2013)andathirdconsecutivereductionoftotalclaims.
Regardingdeathsfromoverwork(causedbybrainorheartdiseases)thetotalnumberin 2014 was 242 claims, which had 245 approved cases and 121 cases wherecompensations was given. This classification also experienced a third year consecutivereductionfrom302casesin2011,to242casesin2014asmentionedpreviously.
The graph above represents the evolution during the 2010-2014 period, for totalnumber of claims, approved cases and compensations granted. Despite not having asignificantvariationthereisshrinkageof39claimsfromthebeginning(2010)to2014.
Table3providesinsightregardingthetypeofindustriesinvolvedinkaroshicases.Theindustrythatreceivedthemostclaimsduring2014wastransportandpostalserviceswith168cases, followedbywholesaleandretail industrywith126casesandtheconstructionindustrywith97cases.Thisrepresentsasimilartrendwithrespecttothepreviousyear.Itis interesting to note that construction andwholesale and retail industries received thesamenumberofapprovedcases,(i.e.,88).
From the graph above, we can appreciate the dynamic of claims andcompensations granted - in general, the total number of claims have decreased(agriculture,manufacturing, construction, transport, etc.), however, wholesale and retailindustry added 3% (from 14 to 17%) as well as accommodations, eating and drinkingservices (from5%to8%).Ontheotherhand, thetotalnumberofcompensationgranted(right side) slightly decreased for transport andpostal activities by 2%and increased forconstruction,wholesaleandretailindustry.
Looking further at the sub-classification of industry type, road freight transport,miscellaneous business services and general construction works obtained the highestnumber of claims submitted with 122, 48 and 42 respectively. It is noteworthy thatmedical,healthcareandwelfare industryranksasthe industrywiththegreatestnumberofclaimscomingfromfemaleworkers(15outof28),followedbytheserviceindustry(notelsewhereclassified)with10cases.
In the case of compensations granted, transport and postal activities again
reached the first position with 77 cases and construction in third place with 16 cases.However,secondplacewasoccupiedbyaccommodation,eatinganddrinkingservices,with18cases.Thisindustryobtainedfourthplaceinregardsoftotalclaims(seeprevioustable).
When considering job classification, transport and machine operators have thegreatest numberof claims for both, 2013 and2014with 170 and149 cases respectivelyfollowedbyservice,andprofessionalandengineeringworkers.Nonetheless, in regard toapprovedcases,professionalandengineeringworkersoccupiedsecondplaceandserviceworkers, third.When it comes to granted compensations, administrativeandmanagerialworkersoccupythirdplacewith37cases.
Graph 3 (below) shows a visual representation of job classification percentages tonumberofclaimsandcompensationsgranted:
The age groupwith themost cases of Karoushi claims and compensations granted,either by brain and heart diseases or death caused by overwork, is predominantly forindividualsaged50to59yearsold,with33%ofclaimsand40%ofcompensationsgrantedin2014.Thesecondagegroupatriskisconcededtobe40to49yearoldindividuals,with29%and 34% respectively.Workers less than 19 years old have a virtually zero cases ofdiseasesanddeathscausedbyoverwork.
Table9 (below) shows themonthly averageovertimework consideringbrain,heartdiseasesandnumberofdeathsforkaroshicompensationsgrantedin2014.Mostworkers(105)haveanoverwork timeof80 to100hours,oranaverageof5hoursextraperdayconsidering20workingdaysamonth.Thesecondcase,considers120to140extrahourspermonth and 25% of peoplewho overworkedmore than 160 hoursmonthly (8 hoursextraapproximately)diedbecauseofthissituation.
In all, from the information presented in this section, we can observe that
transportandpostalservicesrepresentedtheindustrieswiththehighestnumberofclaimsdue tobrain andheart diseases causedbyoverwork (excludingdeaths), followedby thewholesale and retail industry and the construction industry. When considering agecomposition, workers between 50 and 59 years old were identified to be the mostaffected,workingamonthlyaverageof80to100extrahours.
andwhitecollarsalike,thatismerelybeingrecognizedbythegovernmentitself.Thefirstadvisethatwillbegivenhereistocallaspadeaspade,andthustofullyrecognizekaroshias being a compound problem that is deeply rooted in Japanese business ethics andculturalbehavior.Aseverypersonisendowedwithabareminimumofwisdomwouldsay:“halfofeveryproblem’s solution resides in theacknowledgementof theproblem itself”.Thussaid,boththegovernmentandtheworkingclassshouldacttowardsmakingkaroshiawell-defined matter, with full recognition through law and juridical systems, as well asindustry. Additionally, the government should stop ignoring the never ending cases ofsuicideordeathofoverworkunderexcusessuchasthelackofevidencethatthesourceofdeathisindeedkaroshi,orthatdeathisanoblewaytoendaservitor’sworkthatdevoted
his life tohis country and/orhis company. The Japanese government shouldbe theonethatpioneerschangesthatbringimprovementsincitizen’squalityoflife,nottheopposite.
ThegovernmentinJapanistryingtocuttheexpensesonamatterthatitjudgeshasno impacton theworking forceand itsefficiency.However,whenconsideringefficiency,the Japanesework force is consideredone of the less efficient ones in the entire globe,which is a real shame coming from a country that is leading the world in terms ofinnovationandgoodbusinesspractices.Infact,westerncountrieshavethehighestworkerefficiency in theworld because they don’t domuch overwork - and if they do, they aremoreproductiveduringnormalhoursbecausetheyneedtogetitdoneinnotimesoastomeet strict deadlines. In Japan, overwork is the norm and leaving at 5pm or 6pm is atransgression. Employees are totally unproductive and often find themselves hangingaroundtheirdeskswaitingfortheirbossestogohome,whichdroptheirefficiencysharply.TheJapanesegovernmentdoesn’tseemtoincludethenotionofefficiencyandproductivityin its currentdefinitionofkaroshi,which iswhywe recommend revisingand recognizingthe full picture, in order to obtain a well-rounded definition of karoshi, as well as toacknowledgeitsvarioussideeffects.
Once Karoshi is defined, plans should be sketched in order to eliminate, or morerealistically,minimize the frequency and the amplitude atwhich it occurs. Herewewillprovide some prevention mechanisms that will act towards this goal. Nonetheless, weshouldbear inmind that thesearemere suggestions and thatweareoutsiders that aretrying to solve problems of a nation that couldn’t find solution itself. A problem that isdeeply rooted in consciousness, history, culture, ethics, behavior, psychology, business,managementandsomanyotheraspectsthatmakeitadifficultpuzzletosolve.However,weattempttoscratchthesurfaceofthespectrumofpossibilitiesandsolutions. Wewilldivide our suggestions to two main parts; the first regarding the prevention of Karoshiusing a comprehensive industrial health service which will try to impose order in theworkingenvironment.Thesecondapproach isabroaderviewof thesituation,whereweoffermeasures tobe takenbydifferentpartiesof theworkingenvironment,namely thegovernment,laborunionsandemployers.ComprehensiveIndustrialHealthService
A comprehensive industrial health service crafted to counter Karoshi was at firstreleasedbythegeneraldirectoroftheLabourStandardsBureauoftheMHLW.Basedonthisfullyfledgedprogram,thegoalwastoshowtheintrinsiccorrelationbetweenseveralhealthdiseasesandhoursspentworkingovertimeaswellasthepreventivemeasuretobetakenbymanagers inordertodealwithsuchcases inthemosteffectiveway.Thesefirstpartonlyofferspreventivemechanismsforemployersandmanagers- itdoesincludetheoverhauloftheworkplace.Suchissueswillbedealtwithinthesecondpartofthissectionwhereabroaderpictureisenvisioned.
Thesourcefromwhichthedatahasbeentakenthatservedasamilestoneforsettingupanentirelynewapproachofacknowledgingwork incidents,was severelyhinderedbythealreadyexistingcasesofthiskindofworkandlaborproblemsstudiedbyreportsandotherpapers.Infact,therewereonlyahandfulofpapersthathaveactuallygivenacleardefinition of how sudden health disorder correlates with the variation of hours spentworkingovertime. Brainandheartrelateddisordersweretakenintoaccounttodefineamechanism of causality between overwork and health changes. The next step would todefinetherelationshipbetweenoverworkandkaroshiasanindustrialhealthmeasurement
we will present measures to be taken by all different players of the problem such asgovernment officials, company managers, labor unions, and individual workers. Thesemeasuresareacombinationandcompilationofthepaperswhichreferencescanbefoundattheendofthispaper.Asacontextforthemeasuresthatwillbegivenlater,wehavetounderstand that Japan has already known aminor reduction of “official” working hoursfrom2052hoursin1990to1972hoursin1992,thiswasmainlyduetothecollapseofthebubble economy during this period, but this didn’t yield the expected reduction of“observedactual”workinghours inworkplaces. In fact, therewas anegative correlationbetween overtime payments increase and hours spent working overtime. A similarsituationwasobservedduringtheearly1970’soilcrisiswhereJapanwastryingtoemploytheminimumneededworkforcejusttoputitsheadoutofthewaterinasurvivalinstincttostay in theworldmarket. It seems that thisphilosophy is still carriedon to thisday,andthatthemostcriticalproblemistheactualideaoflabor.
turbulencethanwhatisalreadythere.LawyersofkaroshihotlinehaveactuallyputonthetablesomesolutionstocounterofthestressfulworkaholicsocietythatJapanhascreated,which leapfrogged the government initiatives and programs acting towards solving thisproblem. Table 5.2 represents the compiledmeasures to be taken by the actors of thekaroshiscene.
Thisreportreviewedincidentsofkaroshiandkaro-jisatsuamongtheJapaneseworkingpopulation.Thetrendinreportedcases(claimsandactualcompensations)ofkaroshiandkaro-jisatsu appears to be on the rise over the past decade, despitemeasures taken byvarious stakeholders, namely government, labor unions and academia to combat thisphenomenon(Araki&Iwasaki,2002).Thiscouldmeanthatahigherlevelofcollaborationbetweencorestakeholdersisurgentlyneeded.TheJapaneseworkingpopulationisalreadytroubledbytheirfastagingstructureandmoresobyprematuresalary-mandeath.
Agovernmentapproachtosolvingthisproblemisratherbleakandseemstodependon how much pressure they receive from the public and the international community.Thereislargegapbetweennumberofkaroshiandkaro-jisatsuclaims,approved,andactualcompensationgrantedasrevealedinthisstudy.
Duetothegovernmentdraggingitsfeetinacknowledgingkaroshiandkaro-jisatsu,aswell as stymieing claims for compensation, has caused organizations and institutions toexploit workers by avoiding workers compensation payouts. Mechanisms for quickcompensationaswellasfinesshouldbeenactedtodeterfurther incidencesofkaroshi intheworkplaceandpromoteahealthierworkenvironmentfrominsidecompanies.
Ontheotherhand,italsoappearsthatvictimsandthevictims’familymisunderstandwhatkilledthem,ortheir lovedone.Likewise,someorganizationsmaybeignorantordonot fullyunderstandthedangersofoverworkandstress in theworkplace.Therefore,weproposethatifpropereducationisgiventobothemployersandemployeesaboutthelinkbetween longworkhoursandkaroshi,hopefullyameaningful internalchangewilloccur.Although karoshi and karo-jisatsu are starting to be recognized in Japan as a seriousproblem, it is not an issue easily overcome due to the social, cultural and psychologicalstigmassurroundingtheissue.Moreover,itistheJapanesewhosubjectthemtothisrigor,andtheJapanesewhosufferandgrievefromit.Inall,itwillbetheJapanesewhohavetofinallydecidetoeithercontinuethispracticeor jointherestof themodernworldwherewe“worktolive”,not“livetowork”.
Insummary,aworkenvironmentbasedon“desktime”andaculturethatendorsesit(longworkhoursandunhealthypractices)causesstresswhichleadstophysicalandmentalhealthissuesresultinginkaroshi,depressionandburnoutwhichleadstokaro-jisatsu.TheJapanese government should seek to improve current prevention mechanisms that aremainly based on secondary prevention (mainly detection and support) such as theComprehensiveIndustrialHealthServiceandtheBasicActofSuicideControlof2006.Thegovernment should determine the root cause of the problems and determine ways toquicklyaddressworkplaceconditionsthatcouldberesultinginkaroshiandkaro-jisatsuinJapan.
To conclude, some initiatives for government and business management to helpcombatandreducetherisingnumberofkaroshiandkarou-jisatsucasesaresuggested:
