"「渡邉美樹さんの耳には入っているの？」 残業代未払いで「ワタミ」に是正勧告", 2 Oct 2020

[Unofficial translation from Japanese to English provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.]

The Takasaki Labour Inspection Office issued a warning to Watami No Takushoku (Watami Co., Ltd.) in Gunma prefecture after finding cases of unpaid overtime wages at its sales offices. The warning was dated September 15. The…director of the sales office, who reported unpaid overtime to the labour office, disclosed the incident at a press conference on 2 October [2020]…

The director was responsible for two sales offices in Gunma prefecture but developed mental health issues at the end of July as a result of long working hours. According to her labour union, she had worked 175.5 overtime hours in the month prior to becoming ill (June 22-July 18). She had also worked consecutively for 27 days (until July 18)…

In addition, the union said that she had reduced her hours on her attendance record so that she did not exceed the limit on overtime hours--30 hours a month--for fixed overtime pay. However, the area manager for the sales office told her, "I've doctored your time cards,” and deleted vacation days off of her attendance record…

On September 28, Watami admitted on its website that it had received a warning from the labour inspection office. It released a statement, saying “We fully accept the claims made by our employee and apologize deeply to her.” It further states, “We intend to take full action on the claims made by our employee and investigate the issue of unpaid wages with guidance from the labour inspection office”…