Company "T" Works Employee to Death. Next Stop: Sweatshops

[Pencil.Fight]

Not only did they work this man to death, they tried to cover it up by lying about his overtime. That's just a new low for any company in Toyota's position.

LINK

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Toyota Motor Corp employee died of overwork after logging more than 106 hours of overtime in a month, a judge ruled Friday, reversing a ministry's earlier decision not to pay compensation to his widow.
ADVERTISEMENT

The Toyota Labor Standards Inspection office, a local branch of Japan's labor ministry, refused to pay the widow the usual compensation for a spouse's work-related death, saying the man had only logged 45 hours of overtime in the month before he died, Japanese media reported.

But the court ruled that the employee had worked far more than that, said Yomiuri Online, a Japanese news website. The Nagoya District Court in central Japan said the ruling overturned the labor ministry's decision.

"We want to think of how to respond to this ruling by discussing it with relevant agencies," an official at the Toyota Labor Standards Inspection Office told Reuters.

The employee, who was working at a Toyota factory in central Japan, died of irregular heartbeat in February 2002 after passing out in the factory around 4 a.m.

"(The employee) worked for extremely long hours and the relationship between his work and death is strong," Yomiuri Online quoted Judge Toshiro Tamiya as saying.

Overworking is a serious issue in Japan, where an average worker uses less than 50 percent of paid holidays, according to government data.

In fiscal year 2005-2006, the labor ministry received 315 requests for compensation from the bereaved families of workers who died of strokes and other illnesses seen as work-related.

Toyota said in a statement it would further improve the management of its employees' health.

[stovt001]

Read it. As they said on Edmunds.com, when it rains, it pours for Toyota.

[Mr. Wyndham]

...

I usually like to rag on Toyota, but...I'm genuinely shocked.

[The_Stache]

Its japan....

Even 45 hours of overtime a week.. thats an 85 hour week.. ive done 60's and it was hell.. Just shows you what flys in other countries.

[Pencil.Fight]

Originally Posted by diarmadhi

Its japan....

Even 45 hours of overtime a week.. thats an 85 hour week.. ive done 60's and it was hell.. Just shows you what flys in other countries.

Well, they're talking about 108 hours of overtime over the course of a month, but that's still an extra 4.5 hours per workday, and in a factory too. I can't even imagine that.

[TFord]

yeah that crap isnt good for anyone...I have to go into shift work 2-3 times a year where we have 12-16 hr shift go home and sleep for 10-7 hrs and get right back on the job and that cycle repeats for usually 1-2 months. Its hell I cant imagine keeping those kind of hrs up all the time. hell they sneak us sleep when we're looking like were bout to die.

[TAG UR IT]

I used to work 60-70 hour work weeks for Pappasitos. It was hell. I was sick and tired of it and wish I hadn't gone into management. Just FYI, anyone going into MGMT for Pappas, be ready to work your @ss off. Even more so if you are a salary manager. They obviously give less hours to the hourly guys. No respect for them in that sense.

Now, when I'm getting paid about $37 per hour overtime in my job, I try to get as much as I can. It gets very tiring, though. I couldn't imagine working that much. In a factory, if it's very repetative, it would be easier to pull it off, IMO....and I'm not saying it would be easy...just easy-er. In the job that I have, your basically a target 24/7 and always have to be on your toes...even when your dog tired. That's the only drawback to OT in my position.

I can't believe they didn't want to pay the family for his OT. That's bullsh!t. I hope this hurts them that much more.

[stevenm357]

Most managment jobs you will expect to work about 55-60 hours per week. Thats why i have a management degree and not a job in management, Hell the local wal-mart is minimum 55 hrs. and a friend that's a regional for arby's says he's usually at 60 and another friend is for US cellular and he is ALWAYS working ALWAYS on call. It's very sad.

[DGthe3]

That sort of problem isn't isolated. I've heard of similar problems here in north america, maybe not to the same degree though. Employees at the Honda plant north of Toronto are basically prisoners while there. Because of this, the place adds nothing to the local economy since everybody commutes in. The burnout rate is high, and the company doesn't care. Its amazing how the unionized domestic cars are actually able to compete against companies that do that. If the unions over here were so deticated to the rights of auto workers in north america they would stop walking out of the plants of the big three and start 'walking into' all the other plants. Never gonna happen though

[KILLER74Z28]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/wor...m.overwork.cnn

Even worse when you put a face to the victim...

[Mr. Wyndham]

Brilliant, in a bitter sort of way. CNN reported it. not just some hole-in-the-wall website.