A Japanese government report says a record high number of people applied for workers’ compensation for mental-health disorders in fiscal 2024.
This year’s white paper on “karoshi” — the Japanese term for death from overwork — was approved in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The report says 3,780 people claimed that they developed mental-health issues due to job-related extreme stress and applied for workers’ compensation. It says 1,055 of those applicants, which is also an all-time high, were deemed eligible for compensation.
The applicants included 202 cases of suicide or attempted suicide. The report states that the figure has been mostly level or slightly up on the 171 cases in fiscal 2010.
The other 3,578 cases, which were not related to suicide, were roughly 3.5 times the 1,010 cases reported in fiscal 2010. By gender, 1,930 were women, while 1,648 were men, marking the sixth straight year of women outnumbering men. Workers in healthcare and social welfare services accounted for the largest number of those applicants.
The government looked into 3,494 cases last fiscal year to determine eligibility for compensation. It found that 1,519 people, the largest group, cited relationship issues, such as problems with bosses and coworkers or difficult customers.
The white paper points out the need to analyze the factors behind the increasing number of applications for workers’ compensation for mental-health issues and move forward with measures against overwork.
Health minister Ueno Kenichiro told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that he intends to make an all-out effort with a sense of duty to realize a society without “karoshi.” He says he wants people to continue working in good health and with fulfillment.