The Japanese government has taken steps to stop its citizens from working themselves to death.
Japan is planning to bring in a cap on the amount of overtime a worker can do to cut down on the number of cases of “death from overwork”.
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Workers’ overtime will be restricted to around 60 hours a month with an increased limit of 100 hours for particularly busy periods.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: “Doing so will help enrich the way workers lead their lives and ensure that the tragedy of karoshi [‘death by overwork’] will not be repeated.”
The working week in Japan is 40 hours but a recent government report revealed nearly one in four companies had employees who racked up more than 80 hours of overtime a month.
Staff at one in 10 workplaces did an extra 100 hours of work every month, the Times reported.
Currently Japan’s government sets an overtime limit of 45 hours a month, not far off the EU’s working time directive stating people should only work 48-hour weeks.
Campaigners have tried to change the nation’s culture of long hours since 24-year-old advertising worker Matsuri Takahashi killed herself after having worked up to 130 hours of monthly overtime.