日本政府發佈過勞死白皮書

Japan’s first government white paper on the still largely taboo phenomenon of death by overwork has revealed that a fifth of surveyed companies acknowledge their full-time staff works dangerously long hours.

日本發佈了有關過勞死這個仍屬禁忌的現象的首份政府白皮書。該白皮書披露，五分之一的受訪企業承認，自己的全職員工工作時間長到了危險的地步。

The 280-page report — published almost three decades after Japan legally recognised death driven by overwork, known as karoshi — acknowledged that its contents made for bleak reading.

該報告發布時，日本距離從法律上承認過勞死（即工作過度導致的死亡）現象已有近三十年。這份長280頁的報告承認，這個問題形勢嚴峻。

Nearly 11 per cent of companies surveyed said they had full-time staff working at least 80 hours of overtime a month — a level which, by official acknowledgment, brings an increased risk of death from cardiovascular issues and other problems.

近11%的受訪企業表示，它們有全職員工每個月至少加班80個小時。官方承認，這樣的加班水平會加大因心血管問題及其他問題死亡的風險。

Almost 12 per cent of companies surveyed said they had staff working more than 100 hours of overtime a month.

將近12%的受訪企業表示，它們有員工每個月加班逾100小時。

The white paper, which was forced into existence by a 2014 private member’s bill obliging the government take responsibility for preventing deaths and suicide through overwork, follows a year in which karoshi compensation claims surged to a record high of 1,456.

這份白皮書是迫於2014年一份日本普通議員法案的要求發佈的，該法案要求日本政府承擔起防止過度工作導致死亡和自殺的責任。白皮書公佈前的一年裏，日本過勞死索賠案件數量達到了1456起的創紀錄高點。

Even then, say lawyers who have represented the families of victims, the issue is greatly understated and barely discussed.

過勞死受害者家屬的代理律師們表示，即使是那樣，這個問題仍被大大淡化，幾乎沒人討論。

The survey had hoped to base its research on responses from 10,000 Japanese companies; in fact, it received replies from just 1,743.

這次調查原本希望能獲得1萬家日本企業的回覆並據此開展研究，事實上卻只收到了1743家企業的回覆。

Government efforts have yet to bite, say labour groups.

多個勞工組織表示，政府的努力仍未見效。

Gentle slogans urging armies of reluctant salarymen let’s work shorter hours, or more practical measures such as turning office lights out at 7pm, are making no visible dent in a work culture that has devised few mechanisms for evaluating achievement beyond simply counting the hours worked.

除了簡單計算工時以外，日本的職場文化未能構想出什麼其他的業績評價機制。在這樣的職場文化中，用讓我們縮短工作時間這樣不痛不癢的口號敦促不情願的工薪人士減少加班、或者推出下午7點辦公室關燈等更實際的舉措，都沒有產生明顯成效。

The fundamental problem, said Koichi Nakano, a political scholar at Tokyo’s Sophia University, is that neither the government nor the business sector is especially keen to inform workers of their rights and to uphold them.

東京上智大學(Sophia University)政治學學者中野晃一表示，根本問題在於，政府和企業部門都不是很熱心於讓員工知曉自身權利和支持他們。

At the heart of the issue is a deeply unenlightened but persistent attitude on the part of the government and management that regards selfless dedication to the company shown through long hours at the office as a prime virtue?.?.?.?in reality it is arguably responsible for the steady decline of the Japanese corporate competitiveness, said Prof Nakano.

中野晃一說：問題的核心在於政府和企業管理層非常落後又固執的態度，他們認爲通過長時間呆在辦公室展現出對企業的無私奉獻是一種至高美德……事實上，可以說正是這種無私奉獻導致日本企業競爭力逐步下降。

Reported karoshi deaths in the 2015 financial year ending in March, published by the labour ministry in April, were concentrated on sectors such as social services and construction.

今年4月日本厚生勞動省發佈的數據顯示，在截至今年3月的2015財年裏，媒體報道的過勞死案例集中在社會服務和建築等領域。

These are on the front lines of Japan’s chronic labour shortage — itself a slow-burning crisis that derives from the country’s long-term demographic decline and historic resistance to large-scale immigration.

這些都是日本長期勞動力短缺最嚴重的領域——勞動力短缺本身就是一場緩慢發酵的危機，它源於兩點，一是就長期而言日本人口趨於下降，二是日本歷史上一直抵制大規模引入移民。

The survey underlying the new white paper found 44 per cent of IT companies admitted that some of their employees worked more than 80 hours of overtime a month.

新白皮書所依據的調查發現，44%的IT公司承認，它們的一些員工每月加班超過80個小時。

But the problem is more widespread.

但這個問題存在於更普遍的領域。

The publication of the white paper came just a week after a Tokyo labour standards office ruled that the suicide of young graduate recruit at the Dentsu advertising agency had been a case of karoshi.

就在白皮書發佈一週前，東京一個勞工標準辦公室裁定，電通(Dentsu)廣告公司的一名剛畢業不久的年輕新員工自殺，屬於過勞死案例。

The family of Matsuri Takahashi, 24, said she took her life after racking up 105 hours of monthly overtime.

24歲的Matsuri Takahashi的家人表示，她在月加班時間超過105個小時後結束了自己的生命。

She had worked in Dentsu’s digital advertising division — the unit at the centre of a developing scandal that involved overcharging clients, and which Dentsu blamed on staff shortages.

她在電通的數字廣告部門工作，該部門目前正處於一樁仍在發酵之中的、涉及多收客戶費用的醜聞的核心。電通將醜聞所涉情況歸咎於人手短缺。

Across the full- and part-time workforce, the average hours worked by individuals are falling very slightly, said the white paper, but that includes the rising cohorts of part time workers.

白皮書稱，綜合來看，全職和兼職員工的平均個人工作時長略有下降，但這其中有兼職勞動者數量日益增多的因素。

Among full-time staffers, on whom karoshi-generating pressures fall most heavily, approximately 21 per cent of Japanese work an average of at least 49 or more hours a week — far above the 12.5 per cent and 16 per cent rates reported in Britain and the US respectively.

全職員工是承受導致過勞死的壓力最嚴重的。日本約21%的全職員工平均每週至少工作49小時，遠遠高於英國（12.5%）和美國（16%）的比例。