Subaru probe finds 3,400 staff were not paid for overtime work
Reuters
Published Jan 24, 2019 09:34PM ET
Subaru probe finds 3,400 staff were not paid for overtime work
TOKYO (Reuters) - Subaru Corp on Friday said it did not pay overtime wages over a two-year period to some 3,400 employees who under-reported their hours, a revelation that surfaced in an internal probe following the 2016 suicide of an overworked employee.
The Japanese automaker, known for its Legacy and Forester cars, said the outstanding wages - from mid-2015 to mid-2017 and totaling 776 million yen ($7.08 million) - were paid retroactively to 3,421 workers last March.
The news was first reported in Japanese media on Friday after representatives of the deceased worker's family disclosed some of the findings this week.
In 2016, a 46-year-old white-collar worker jumped to his death from the roof of a Subaru factory in what authorities ruled as 'karoshi', or death from overwork. At the time, Subaru was enjoying bumper sales and profit due to the popularity of its cars in the United States, its main market.
In its probe, Subaru found the majority of workers it surveyed said they under-reported overtime hours "so as not to exceed the limit for the budget for overtime work".
It said it has since taken steps to make sure workers are unable to falsely report their actual work hours.
The automaker also said it owed the deceased worker 4.08 million yen in overtime pay, and that it remained in settlement talks with his family.
The pay issue comes after the revelation of governance lapses at the automaker since 2017 involving flawed vehicle inspections. That has led to the recall of hundreds of thousands of cars, pulling down Subaru's profit.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.