McDonald’s Co. (Japan) on Monday was ordered to pay 7.5 million yen to a branch manager who had often worked more than 100 hours of overtime a month without being paid.
In a landmark ruling, the Tokyo District Court agreed with the argument of Hiroshi Takano, 46, that the fast-food giant’s policy of making outlet managers ineligible for overtime pay violates the Labor Standards Law.
[McDonald’s manager] Takano joined McDonald’s in 1987 and started working long hours in 2004 after he became manager of an outlet that had no other regular full-time workers under the company’s cost-cutting policy.
He clocked in around 5 a.m., and his overtime hours totaled up to 137 hours a month, Takano said.
The hard work caused Takano to suffer a minor stroke in April 2005, prompting him to sue his company, he said.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200801290098.html