More people are doing unpaid overtime work in Japan, official figures show, as companies flaunt national laws and place increasing pressure on their employees in a bid to reverse falling profits.
The number of firms where employees work for free or earn minimal allowances while doing overtime last year more than doubled from three years ago, according to the labour ministry.
"The official work hours are from 9am to 5:30pm, but everybody turns up at least by 8am," said Komaki Matsui, the 26-year-old editor of a magazine for accountants, with 50 staffers.
"A morning meeting with bosses starts at 8:30 and you would be scolded if you failed to attend," she said.
The practice is considered normal and those who complain either leave or are forced to quit the company, said Matsui.
"I normally work for at least 12 hours, and even 14 hours is not unusual ... there is an atmosphere that all of us should unite and hold out as the company is in financial difficulty."
Her company president started preaching about the firm's corporate culture some time ago, making it clear those who did not obey the rules should leave, Matsui said.
"I know this policy is wrong ... but I would be happy if the company made money even though I get no returns for overtime," she said, noting that higher earnings would eventually result in staff bonuses and a brighter office atmosphere.
This sorry practice looked set to continue in Japan so long as companies brainwashed their staff into working for free, predicted Matsui.
"It is brainwashing, isn't it?" she quipped.
Japan's labor law requires firms to pay employees at least 25 percent extra for overtime work, but a rising number are violating the regulation.
The government's Labor Standards Inspection Offices issued instructions to 16,059 firms to discontinue unpaid overtime last year, up 9.5 percent from 2000 and a 128 percent increase from 1998.
The companies must submit reports clarifying measures to correct the practice. If they ultimately fail to obey the law, employers are subject to imprisonment for up to six months or fines of ?300,000 (US$2,500).
Hitoshi Yamada, senior economist at Japan Research Institute, said the real number of companies demanding unpaid overtime must be higher than the ministry figure, adding there were two main reasons for the practice.
"One is weak company earnings," he said.
"Companies are pushing ahead with payroll cuts but the work to be done has not decreased ... Service zangyo naturally rises as [employees] are required to maintain the same output with fewer staff," he said.
Unpaid overtime is dubbed "service zangyo [that is, free of charge]" in Japanese.
Another reason is a rise in workers who receive merit-based pay and can compile their own work schedules but must still arrive at the office by a set time regardless of whether they only have appointments later in the day.
"Things were simpler when most people were employed in the manufacturing industry, but jobs where work schedules are left to each employee's discretion have increased nowadays," said Yamada.
"Despite this, [Japanese companies] have yet to establish a system that enables workers to choose where to work and when to start working by themselves," he said.
RSS