Death from cardiovascular collapse or suicide attributable to sustained overwork, recognised in law as compensable.
Named in Japanese occupational medicine in the late 1970s and later recognised for compensation purposes, with claims assessed against thresholds of overtime hours in the months before death. The category is unusual in making an association between working hours and mortality administratively actionable rather than merely studied.
In practice
- A firm that counts overtime only above a threshold does not see the hours that would have triggered the review.
- A bereaved family's compensation claim turns on timesheets the employer had every incentive not to keep.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Creativity & Work
- Essay
- What gets in the way of good work