Dentsu Inc has set up a committee to improve working conditions at its Japanese offices after labour officials ruled the suicide of 24-year-old employee Matsuri Takahashi was caused by overwork, known as karoshi in Japanese.
Labour officials are also considering whether to strip Dentsu of its ‘family-friendly’ certification after inspectors raided several Dentsu offices last month to assess whether working conditions contributed to the cause of Takahashi’s death.
In a statement, Dentsu said it will set up an eight-member group to create a reform plan to prevent overwork issues and “proactively try to remove karoshi from Dentsu's working culture”.
The Dentsu Working Environment Reforms Commission will be headed by president and CEO Tadashi Ishii and also comprises leaders of the Japan business, corporate strategy planning, HR, sales, media relations and solutions operations. The committee will consult junior and mid-level employees to form a broader picture about working conditions across the enterprise.
The aim of the commission is to "accelerate work on these measures to improve our working environment and control long working hours, we aim to eliminate karoshi so that our employees maintain a healthy work/life balance and operate in an environment where they can realize their growth potential".
Japan’s largest ad agency, which controls about quarter of ad revenue in the country, has already taken measures to improve working conditions, such as limiting overtime to 45 hours per month above statutory working hours, and restricting office hours to between 5am and 10pm.
Long working hours are not unique to Dentsu in Japan, however, the ad agency promotes hard work as one of its guidelines for employees, Ad Age reports.
One of the guidelines, written by Dentsu’s post-war president Hideo Yoshida, instructs employees to never relinquish a task, according to a translation by a Japanese newspaper.
Takahashi’s death is not the first case of karoshi at the firm. In 2013, long working hours is said to have contributed to an employee’s death in a case that went to the Supreme Court. Dentsu paid $1.6 million in damages to the employee’s family.
This year, Dentsu was embroiled in an overbilling scandal and has pledged to repay $3 million to clients for overcharging on digital media.
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