Illegal Worker Rewarded Medical Compensation
Wednesday, June 15, 2005 Posted: 03:21 PM JST
Kyodo News reports that the Sagamihara Labor Standards Inspection Office in Kanagawa Prefecture has recognized a heart infarction suffered by a Bangladeshi construction worker as having been caused by overwork. The Office recognized it as a case of occupational disease.
The worker, after learning that even overseas workers who have exceeded their legal stay are protected under labor laws, consulted a labor union that assists foreign workers and brought a claim for workers' compensation to the office.
In recognizing the case as an occupational disease, it seems that the office took seriously the fact that the worker was working more than 100 hours overtime per month. A notebook in which the worker recorded the times he went to work and returned home also served as a decisive factor in winning the favorable judgment. The recognition was made in March this year, and the worker was awarded medical expenses and leave compensation.
Although quite a few economic migrants suffer under severe working conditions, few of them bring claims of industrial accidents or disease to the Labor Standards Inspection Offices.
Source: The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training
Keywords: national_news
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