Teachers and medical staff are among the professions most at risk of overwork, raising concerns about serious health issues — and even death — a government white paper on combating karōshi (death from overwork) showed Tuesday.
In a government survey cited in the white paper, teachers and officials at elementary, middle and high schools nationwide are working more than 11 hours per day on average. Senior staff such as vice principals were found to have worked particularly long hours, with a daily average of about 12.5 hours.
This means they worked 4.5 extra hours per day, or 90 hours per month — well over the 80-hour monthly overtime threshold that often sees the risk of death from overwork rise.