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Article

10 Dec 2015

Author:
Jiji, Kyodo

Japan: Pub chain Watami, founder settle suit over suicide of overworked staffer

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... Mina Mori, 26, killed herself in June 2008, two months after beginning work with the company. She was forced to work long shifts until the early hours and often then hung around until the first train. Her overtime was found to be in excess of 140 hours a month.... Mori was assigned to an eatery where shifts would begin in the afternoon and last more than 10 hours. This became her daily routine. Coming off shift in the early hours, Mori had missed the last train home, and since the company would not pay for a taxi, she would often wait at the workplace overnight. Even during holidays, Mori was required to take training sessions early in the morning and would spend long hours preparing daily reports or memorizing the company’s credo, created by Watanabe. In May, a month after being hired, Mori left a note: “My body hurts. I feel exhausted. I feel emotionally numb. I can’t move as fast as I want to. Please help me, somebody help me,” she wrote.