Nomura real estate worker’s death linked to overwork

March 5, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's labor authorities have determined that the 2016 suicide of a male employee at Nomura Real Estate Development Co. who had been improperly covered by a discretionary work system was related to overwork, according to informed sources.

According to the labor ministry's Tokyo Labor Bureau and other sources, the Tokyo-based company abused the discretionary work system, under which workers are paid preset wages linked to fixed overtime hours rather than actual hours worked, and caused the death of the employee, in his 50s, working under such conditions.

The bureau's investigation of the case led it to advise the realtor late last year to correct its improper use of the system for the worker and other employees, the sources said.

The employee worked at Nomura Real Estate's head office in Tokyo and was involved in the renting out of housing that owners leave unoccupied when they are relocated.

He worked more than 180 overtime hours in the month from late November 2015 and fell ill.

The man killed himself in September 2016 and his family subsequently applied to authorities for confirmation that his death was related to overwork and for workers' compensation.

On Dec. 26 last year, the bureau recognized that the worker developed a mental disorder due to long work hours and this led to his suicide.

It has come to light that the company, under Nomura Real Estate Holdings Inc. <3231>, was applying the discretionary work system, designed for employees in planning and research jobs, to several hundred workers, mainly those involved in sales activities, at the head office and three other offices.

The abuse of the system forced employees, including the deceased worker, to work long hours illegally with unpaid overtime. In December, the bureau advised corrective measures and issued a special instruction to the company's president, Seiichi Miyajima.

A Nomura Real Estate official has offered condolences to the deceased worker and said it will continue to respond sincerely on the issue. Jiji Press