In a first, the suicide of a man who held two jobs was recognized as a work-related death based on the combined psychological stress he suffered from both workplaces.

The 60-year-old from Aichi Prefecture was an engineer at major surveying company Pasco Corp. and also a researcher at Gifu University. He killed himself in May 2021.

In 2020, a legal revision allowed for a combined evaluation of psychological stress and working hours across multiple workplaces for recognition of “karoshi,” or death from overwork.

The labor ministry said this is the first such recognition under the revision. Recognition will allow the bereaved family to receive workers’ accident compensation for the death.

Labor experts say the case highlights the risks faced by workers as the government promotes dual employment.

According to the family and lawyer of the man, he had worked for many years as a bridge design engineer before taking on dual employment in December 2019 at Pasco and Gifu University.

The Nagoya Kita Labor Standards Inspection Office noted that at Pasco, the man was assigned to handle a new business project alone, a task usually undertaken by a team, and that the transfer of an understanding boss deepened his isolation.

The office also said that at Gifu University, the man experienced what the school later acknowledged as “power harassment” from the associate professor overseeing him.

The office evaluated the psychological stress of each workplace as “moderate” on a three-level scale. On its own, the level would not qualify as one leading to a work-related death.

However, the office ruled that the “combined stress level” was “severe,” and recognized the suicide as a work-related death in April.

Pasco declined to comment on the decision.

Gifu University said, “We had not received direct guidance from the labor standards inspection office and don’t know the details.”

INCREASE IN DUAL EMPLOYMENT

In 2017, the government said it would promote dual employment to drive technological innovation.

According to the internal affairs ministry, the number of people working two jobs increased from around 2.45 million in 2017 to roughly 3.05 million in 2022.

Calls grew for work-related accident recognition to reflect the realities of modern employment, leading to the 2020 revision of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Law to allow for a comprehensive evaluation of stress and working hours across multiple workplaces.

According to the labor ministry, 17 work-related accidents and illnesses have been recognized through such comprehensive evaluations as of March, including four fatalities caused by overwork-related brain or heart diseases.

Most karoshi deaths are recognized as being caused by long working hours. There had been no instances of work-related suicides recognized through a comprehensive evaluation of psychological stress, which is difficult to quantify.

OBSCURED BURDEN ON WORKERS

Yuichiro Mizumachi, professor of labor law at Waseda University, views the Aichi man’s case as significant because the legal revision led to the recognition of his suicide as a work-related death.

“This case also raised the issue of how to protect the health of workers with dual employment,” he said.

Mizumachi noted that many companies fail to monitor an employee’s secondary employment and deliberately outsource work to avoid paying overtime wages. This practice further obscures the burden placed on workers.

“Employers need to establish systems to prevent work-related accidents and illnesses, such as creating workplace rules that require employees to self-report their dual employment,” he added.

LOW INCOME STRUGGLES

The model rules of employment had previously prohibited side jobs and dual jobs, in principle.

But in 2018, the government established guidelines to promote such jobs. Workers showed an increasing interest in the shift, and legal revisions took effect in 2020.

“The government’s focus was on encouraging innovation through side jobs among high-income earners,” said Takashi Araki, a professor at the University of Tokyo who was involved in the revision discussions.

In reality, however, many people are juggling jobs just to make ends meet, he said.

A 52-year-old man from Katano, Osaka Prefecture, is one of them.

He works as a fixed-term municipal garbage collector and, for four days a week, he also sorts goods in a warehouse for a transportation company until 10 p.m.

His combined annual income is about 4 million yen ($26,000).

He has to cover his eldest daughter’s university tuition, leaving no wiggle room in his budget.

Despite exceeding the total number of legal working hours, he has not been paid overtime wages because of the way his employment is structured.

“If they told me, ‘If you don’t like the conditions, then quit,’ I’d be in a tough situation,” he said. “I have no choice but to endure.”

According to a 2022 survey by the internal affairs ministry, two-thirds of people with side and dual jobs earn less than 2.99 million yen from their main jobs.

‘SELF-REPORTING HAS LIMIT’

Another expert argues that companies’ reluctance to pay overtime wages is causing vulnerable workers to hesitate to self-report their side jobs.

Yoshihide Tachino, the lawyer representing the Aichi man’s family, said that “relying only on self-reporting has its limits.”

“It’s difficult to grasp not only the working hours of dual jobs but also the psychological stress,” he said. “If the government is promoting this, I hope it will also enhance regular meetings in companies and deepen discussions on preventing work-related accidents and illnesses.”

(This article was written by Issei Yamamoto and Yuki Hanano.)