Photo/Illutration The Patissier es koyama confectionery shop in Sanda, Hyogo Prefecture, on Nov. 3 (Ryo Ioka)

SANDA, Hyogo Prefecture--A company that operates a confectionery store here selling a famed roll cake and headed by a celebrity patissier has twice been warned for forcing employees to work more than 100 hours of overtime a month. 

The Hyogo Labor Bureau’s Itami labor standards inspection office has repeatedly warned the operator of Patissier es koyama of overtime practices that violate the Labor Standards Law, The Asahi Shimbun has learned.

Susumu Koyama, the patissier who runs the store and CEO of Patissier Koyama Co., on Nov. 3 posted a comment on the company’s website acknowledging the transgressions and apologizing to customers.

He said, “I have lacked awareness of regulations related to labor and made insufficient efforts, and I take the fact to heart.”

According to Patissier es koyama, the inspection office concluded in January 2018 that of about 100 employees and contract workers who are involved in the production and sales of confectionery, 55 worked more than 100 hours of overtime.

The company’s labor-management agreement limits overtime to less than 100 hours a month.

A standard set by labor authorities to determine a case of "karoshi," or death from overwork, is working at least 100 hours of overtime a month.

In January 2021, authorities determined that 48 employees had put in more than 100 hours of overtime, Patissier es koyama reported.

Each time, the company received a warning from the inspection office and was told to rectify the situation.

The company told The Asahi Shimbun, “Working long hours has been continuous.”

“After we received the first warning, an employee in charge of labor issues quit, and the information was not shared within the company,” Patissier es koyama also said.

In March this year, the company submitted a report on the improved working environment to the inspection office, but it has not resolved the problem of excessive hours being worked by some of its employees and is preparing a new report, the company told the Asahi Shimbun.

Patissier es koyama’s internal investigation, conducted after the second warning, revealed that compensation for the overtime hours for some employees has yet to be paid.

The company is processing the payments, it said.

Koyama, 57, established the company in 1999. He has appeared on TV shows and in newspaper articles as a master patissier. A major product produced by his company is a fluffy roll cake called the Koyama Roll.

Currently, Patissier es koyama runs the Sanda shop and also sells products online. Koyama has won an award at a global chocolate contest.

According to the company, its sales for the fiscal year ending in August 2020 totaled about 1.86 billion yen ($16.3 million).

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