Dentsu again found violating rules on overtime hours

Dec 06, 2019 | News On Japan

Dec 06, 2019 (Japan Today) - Dentsu Inc said Thursday it has again received a warning from labor authorities over its illegal overtime practices.

Two years after being convicted for its long-hour working practices, which had led to the suicide of an employee, the advertising giant was found to have violated labor laws in 2018 by failing to curb the overtime work of some employees. A local labor standard office in Tokyo recommended it correct the situation in September.

Dentsu said it has swiftly settled the relevant issues. "We'll continue our reforms of our working environment," its public relations division said.

Dentsu had been repeatedly recommended by labor authorities since 2010 to correct its overtime working practices.

In October 2017, a court ordered the ad agency to pay 500,000 yen in fines after labor authorities concluded the previous year that Matsuri Takahashi, a 24-year-old new female employee of company, committed suicide in 2015 due to excessive overtime work.

Dentsu has a labor-management agreement which limits monthly overtime work to 45 hours per person. The limit can be extended to 75 hours if employees apply in advance.

The authorities this time found several breaches of the rules. In one case, a sales employee worked overtime for 156 hours in a month.

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