Labor lawyers hold phone counseling for workers

The Labour Lawyers Association of Japan (LLAJ) on December 7 provided a telephone counseling service for workers who need to solve problems related to corporate restructuring and unpaid overtime work. It set up 26 call centers throughout the country and received 723 calls on the day.

At the LLAJ's head office in Tokyo, 25 lawyers received about 200 calls from workers and their families, mostly reporting bad working conditions.

Callers said: "No matter how much I work overtime, my overtime pay won't go any higher than 2,000 yen (16 dollars) a month," "Working until midnight, I always miss my last train and I have to pay for a cab by myself," and "I've got health problems because of overworking; I normally work from 7 a.m. to 2 or 3 a.m." (end)