Death by Overwork

The consequences of working too much can have fatal consequences. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend by extending work hours through remote work and eliminating time-off, including vacations. The toll on the American workforce is devastating, and the consequences on the entire workers’ compensation system are enormous. 

Overwork A Recognized Compensable Condition

The Japanesse courts have coined "overwork" as a soaring compensable mental health condition based on depression cause by adverse work conditions. The worldwide economic downturn has resulted in more demanding working conditions which have become adverse to employee health. Fatigue, caused by demanding schedules and long work hours has been found as a major contributing cause of depression for Japanese workers.

The Economist reported. "HARA-KIRI is a uniquely Japanese form of suicide. Its corporate equivalent is karoshi, “death by overwork”. Karōshi (過労死?), which can be translated literally from Japanese as "death from overwork", is occupational sudden death. Although this category has a significant count, Japan is one of the few countries that reports it in the statistics as a separate category. The major medical causes of karōshi deaths are heart attack and stroke due to stress.

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For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accident and injuries.

Related Blog Post

Workers' Compensation: The Compensabilty of Death By Overwork

Feb 28, 2012

The Compensabilty of Death By Overwork. Late in the 1970s, serious social concern over health problems due to long working hours has arisen in Japan. This report briefly summarizes the Japanese circumstances about long ...

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Stress in the Workplace: The Availability of Workers' Compensation Benefits

Compensability for occupational diseases has become commonplace in most, if not all, jurisdictions throughout the country; however, the majority of claims filed allege physical rather than mental disability. The California Workers' Compensation Institute recently published their study of mental stress claims which indicated an increase of 430 percent in the number of claims filed from 1980 to 1986.

The main causes for these claims include job pressures, harassment, and job termination. Other types of discrimination and stressors account for a small percentage of the claims filed.

Stressful Jobs Are A Killer

Workers exposed to stress for at least half their working lives are 25 per cent more likely to die from a heart attack, and have 50 per cent higher odds of suffering a fatal stroke. Also, blue-collar workers are more prone to such illnesses than executives. These facts are exposed in the ‘modern workers health check’ featured in the latest issue of TUC backed Hazards magazine out today (Tuesday).

TUC research shows that stress is Britain’s number one workplace health hazard. Now the ‘modern workers health check’ reveals worldwide evidence of employees being worked into the ground:

Workers with stressful jobs are more than twice as likely to die from heart disease.