More people claimed and received compensation for work-related suicides and mental-health problems last year than ever before, officials said Thursday.
A government report, citing the number of cases leading to compensation, found workers who committed suicide due to work-related stress hit a record 65 cases in 2006, compared with 42 the previous year, said Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry official Junichiro Kurashige.
Workers who received compensation for work-induced mental illness hit 205, up 61 percent from a year earlier, he said — also a record high. The number of applications for compensation for mental illness or suicide also rose sharply to 819 cases, a 24 percent jump.