The Tokyo headquarters of Japanese advertising giant Dentsu has been raided by Tokyo Labor Bureau after an employee’s suicide was linked to overwork.
The Financial Times reports that the raids on Friday took place in response to allegations that the suicide of Matsuri Takahashi (25th December 2015) was caused by a culture of overworking.
The Japanese government launched the investigation into the death of the 24-year-old, who had been at the company only nine months, only one week after it published a study on ‘Karoshi’ – the trend of death caused by overworking.
Four Dentsu offices were raided to ascertain if it had any part in the incident. The company said it is “co-operating fully” with the taskforce’s investigations.
Dentsu could face criminal charges if it is found to have been encouraging a culture off over-working.
The investigation comes just weeks after the company agreed to repay clients it had over-charged, it claims $2.3m.
