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A Japanese city has been ordered to pay virtually 11m yen (£57,000) in extra time to public servants compelled to start out work 5 minutes early every day.
On 26 February 2021, all 146 authorities workers in Ginan city, in Gifu prefecture on the Honshu island, had been directed to start out clocking in at 8.25am, 5 minutes sooner than the usual begin time, the South China Morning Submit reported. The directive, issued by then mayor Hideo Kojima, reportedly got here into impact on 1 March that yr.
Kojima, who took over as mayor in late 2020, was identified for having a strict administration model. He resigned in 2023 after an investigation discovered he had dedicated 99 acts of sexual harassment in opposition to workers.
He denied the allegations though a number of the incidents had reportedly been witnessed by different folks. “I didn’t do it,” he mentioned in televised feedback. “The report lacks neutrality, and I need them to analyze extra rigorously.”
The Asahi Shimbun reported that Kojima would get unduly indignant at workers he didn’t like and commonly threatened them with “disciplinary motion” and “dismissal”.
After his resignation in 2023, the early clock-in coverage was discontinued.
The workers, nonetheless, maintained that the extra 5 minutes per day they’d labored all these years ought to qualify as extra time and lodged a proper criticism with the Japan Honest Commerce Fee, in search of compensation for the three-year interval throughout which the coverage was enforced.
In November 2024, the fee dominated in favour of the workers and ordered the city to pay them greater than 10.9m yen (£56,581) in compensation.
On 28 February 2025, a supplementary funds proposal addressing the compensation difficulty was introduced to the city’s meeting.
The cost is but to be disbursed, the SCMP reported.
The case has sparked intense debate amongst Japanese netizens, not least as a result of Japan has lengthy grappled with the issue of “karoshi” — dying from overwork — which underscores the intense penalties of extreme working hours.
“Within the firm I work for there’s a obligatory 10-minute assembly through the midday break daily. I feel that is clearly unlawful. Ought to we additionally speak to the Honest Commerce Fee?” one particular person commented on-line in accordance with the SCMP.
“Some corporations need workers to have morning conferences, clear up the workplace, and even do workout routines earlier than beginning work, however they’re all extra time below the legislation,” mentioned one other.
The Japanese authorities final yr launched a “work model reform” marketing campaign selling shorter hours and different versatile preparations in addition to extra time limits and paid annual depart in an effort to encourage residents to have a greater work-life stability.
“By realising a society through which staff can select from quite a lot of working kinds primarily based on their circumstances, we purpose to create a virtuous cycle of development and distribution and allow every employee to have a greater outlook for the long run,” a authorities web site says concerning the “hatarakikata kaikaku” marketing campaign, which interprets to “innovating how we work”
