Photo/Illutration A government poster warns against using abusive language and behavior toward service sector employees. (Captured from the labor ministry website)

Convenience store chain Lawson Inc. has stopped requiring staff to wear name tags displaying their full names to protect employee safety and combat the growing scourge of abusive customers. 

The new policy, announced June 4, allows employees to choose initials for their name tags, which do not have to correspond to their actual names.

Similarly, FamilyMart Co. has also allowed its convenience store staff to choose pseudonyms for their name tags since late May.

Both companies implemented these changes following employee requests.

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Lawson workers no longer have to display their real names on name tags. (Sho Ito)

Displaying real names on name tags can make workers vulnerable to online harassment. Aggressive customers may target these workers and reveal their personal information on social media. 

Seven-Eleven Japan Co., the industry leader, is also considering revising its policy on employee name tags.

These changes are part of broader efforts to protect service sector employees from customer abuse and aggression, a growing concern known in Japan as "kasu-hara" (customer harassment).

Electric utility TEPCO Energy Partner Inc. has released a new policy stating the company will report customers to police or refuse service to those who make abusive or threatening demands.

Similar policies have been implemented by East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) and other companies.

Airline ANA Holdings Inc. has established guidelines for recording interactions with customers with their consent.

Major taxi company Nihon Kotsu Co. has implemented a new system that automatically transmits dashcam footage to the head office whenever a driver triggers an alert during an encounter with an abusive customer.

These efforts are already making a difference.

A recent survey by labor union association UA Zensen found that 46.8 percent of service sector employees have experienced kasu-hara in the past two years. That’s down nearly 10 percentage points from four years ago.

The survey was conducted between January and March with responses from roughly 33,000 workers.

“The decrease in customer abuse incidents can be attributed to increased public awareness of the issue and the efforts of workers and employers,” said Katsuharu Matsuura from UA Zensen.

“To take effective steps, we need to cooperate with relevant ministries and agencies,” he added. “We will urge the government to establish a panel that includes experts and labor and management representatives." 

The labor ministry is considering revising a relevant law to make it mandatory for companies to take steps to protect their employees from abusive customers. This could include developing customer service manuals and establishing employee helplines.

Tokyo officials also plan to submit an ordinance to prevent kasu-hara to the metropolitan assembly. 

(This article was written by Takaya Katada and Sho Ito.)

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