Japan Press Weekly

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2013 October 2 - 8 [LABOR]

Convenience store worker succeeds in regaining his job after court battle

A worker in a convenience store chain, who was forced to take sick leave because of depression caused by harsh working conditions, has succeeded in regaining his job after six years of struggles including a court battle against the company. His fight has brought positive changes in his workplace.

Shimizu Fumiyoshi, 34, in 2006 got a job at the convenience chain SHOP 99 (currently named LAWSON 100). Only nine months after starting to work, the company assigned him as a store manager in name only, and stopped paying him overtime pay by claiming, he was a “manager”. As a result, his wage was reduced from 300,000 yen to 220,000 yen a month.

Instructed by the chain operator to cut labor costs, Shimizu had to operate his store understaffed and work without taking a day off. He worked for 37 days without a day off, or for 343.5 hours a month.

Suffering from depression caused by the excessively harsh working conditions, he was forced to take sick leave 14 months after he entered the company.

Shimizu joined the Tokyo Young Contingent Workers’ Union and filed a lawsuit against the company with the Tokyo District Court Tachikawa Branch with the help of the union. He won back pay for unpaid overtime and compensation in May 2011.

In September this year, Shimizu returned to his workplace after six years of struggle and found an improvement in working conditions. When Shimizu was a nominal store manager, he used to work 15 hours a day. The manager of the store where Shimizu now works at often goes home after 11 hours of work.

The company used to not provide overtime pay to store managers, but it now does.

Past related articles
> ‘Nominal manager’ wins in court [June 1, 2011]
> ‘Nominal’ managers call for eradication of illegal labor practice [May 20, 2008]