17 percent of government workers are forced to work 80 hours of overtime a month

A union survey found that 17 percent of workers in central government offices have worked overtime more than 80 hours in a given month. More than 80 hours of overtime work in a month is considered as a major cause of death from overwork (karoshi).

The survey, conducted by the Joint Struggle of National Public Employees' and Independent Administrative Institution Workers' Unions in Tokyo (Tokyokokko), was responded to by 5,113 government workers, or about 10 percent of all employees of central government offices in Tokyo.

The average working hours the respondents said they worked in a month from April 2002 to March 2003 was 47.5. Fifteen percent of them said they could handle their work within their regular working hours, and 9.8 percent said they worked more than 100 hours of overtime in a month. (end)