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Overwork Suicide and the Law in Japan

The Problem of the overwork suicide or a death from overwork(it is generally called ‘karousi’ of the Japanese language) in Japan is well known to the world. The most recent case of the suicide occurred in the Dentuu of a advertising company. The Japanese Government has been reformed labor systems to prevent the suicide or a death from overwork from occurring in Japan. One of them is reducing working hours. On the other side many systems for keeping an employee s mental health are introduced in the labor legislations and regulations or guidelines concerned. The Government s efforts or reforms above are as follows: The Labor Standards Act strictly restricts an extended work by a written agreement between an employer and a representative of an employee. That is to say, it is that the extended work is restricted only in temporary reason. Simultaneously the Government issues guideline with respect to checking working hours of its employees by its employer. On the other hand the Labor Safety and Health Act introduces an interview instruction system to protect an employee s mental health. The Death from Overwork Prevention Countermeasure Promotion Law is, futhermore, enacted in 2014. The DOPCPL also has a goal of restricting long working hours, but it focus on responsibilities for pursuing policies of reducing working hours by the Government and a Local Government.