Karoshi (Japanese: 過労死, Hepburn: Karōshi), which can be translated into 'overwork death', is a Japanese term relating to occupation-related sudden death. The most common medical causes of karoshi deaths are heart attacks and strokes due to stress and malnourishment or fasting. Mental stress from the workplace can also cause workers to commit suicide in a phenomenon known as karōjisatsu (過労自殺). Karoshi is also widespread in other parts of Asia. Generally, deaths from overwork are a worldwide occurrence. For example, over 770 wage labourers die of overwork annually in Sweden, a country with robust labour regulations.
History The first case of karoshi was reported in 1969 with the stroke-related death of a 29-year-old male worker in the shipping department of Japan's largest newspaper company. In 1988, the Labor Force Survey reported that almost one fourth of the male working employees worked over 60 hours per week (equivalent of two-and-a-half days), which is 50% longer than a typical 40-hour (equivalent of over one-day-and-a-half) weekly working schedule. Realizing the seriousness and widespread nature of this emerging problem, a group of lawyers and doctors set up "karoshi hotlines" that are nationally available, dedicated to helping those who seek consultation on karoshi-related issues. Japan's rise from the devastation of World War II to economic prominence and the huge war reparations they have paid in the post-war decades have been regarded as the trigger for what has been called a new epidemic. It was recognized that employees cannot work for 12 or more hours a day, 6–7 days a week, year after year, without suffering physically as well as mentally. In an April 2013 International Labour Organization (ILO) article about karoshi, the following four typical cases of karoshi were mentioned:
Mr. A worked at a major snack food processing company for as long as 110 hours a week (equivalent of four and a half days) and died from a heart attack at the age of 34. His death was recognized as work-related by the Labour Standards Office. Mr. B, a bus driver, whose death was also recognized as work-related, worked 3,000 hours a year (equivalent of four months). He did not have a day off in the 15 days before he had a stroke at the age of 37. Mr. C worked in a large printing company in Tokyo for 4,320 hours a year including night work (equivalent of nearly six months, thus half a year) and died from a stroke at the age of 58. His widow received workers' compensation 14 years after her husband's death. Ms. D, a 22-year-old nurse, died from a heart attack after 34 hours of continuous duty five times a month. As well as physical pressure, mental stress from the workplace can cause karoshi. People who die by suicide due to mental stress are called karōjisatsu (過労自殺). The ILO also lists some causes of overwork or occupational stress that include the following:
All-night, late-night or holiday work, both long and excessive hours. During the long-term economic recession after the collapse of the bubble economy in the 1980s and 1990s, many companies reduced the number of employees. The total amount of work, however, did not decrease, forcing each employee to work harder. Stress accumulated due to frustration at not being able to achieve the goals set by the company. Even in economic recession, companies tended to demand excessive sales efforts from their employees and require them to achieve better results. This increased the psychological burden placed on the employees at work. Forced resignation, dismissal, and bullying. For example, employees who worked for a company for many years and saw themselves as loyal to the company were suddenly asked to resign because of the need for staff cutbacks. Suffering of middle management. They were often in a position to lay off workers and torn between implementing a corporate restructuring policy and protecting their staff.
Karoshi Hotline In a 1988 report published by the Karoshi Hotline Network, the majority of the clients who consulted were not workers, but the wives of the workers who had either died because of karoshi or were at high risk of doing so. This indicated that those who were stressed out by work either did not realize the cause was overwork or were under social pressure to not express it explicitly or to seek help. The Karoshi Hotline received the highest number of calls when it was first established in 1988. From 1988 to 1990, there were a total number of 1806 calls received. From 1990 to 2007, the number of calls received per year was lower, but has not shown a clear trend of further decrease.
Effects on society Suicide can be induced by overwork-related stress or when people are dismissed. The deceased person's families demand damages when such deaths occur. Life insurance companies started putting one-year exemption clauses in their contracts. They did this so that the person must wait one year to commit suicide in order for the family to receive the money. There is a new movement of Japanese workers, formed as a result of karoshi. Compared to older Japanese people who often work overtime, young Japanese people are preferring part-time work. This is a new style of career choice for the young Japanese people who want to try out different jobs in order to figure out their own potential. These individuals work for "hourly wages rather than regular salaries," and are called "freeters." The number of freeters has increased throughout the years, from 200,000 in the 1980s to about 400,000 in 1997. Freeters undergo a special kind of employment, defined by Atsuko Kanai as those who are currently employed and referred to as "part-time workers or arbeit (temporary workers), who are currently employed but wish to be employed as part time workers, or who are currently not in the labor force and neither doing housework nor attending school but wish to be employed only as part-time workers."
Government policies To provide a strategic plan to decrease the rate of karoshi, the National Institute of Health proposed the establishment of a comprehensive industrial health service program to reduce karoshi and other diseases caused by work-related stress in its 2005 annual report. The program requires communal efforts from the following groups:
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