A Towa Bank employee's suicide has been officially recognized as a work-related accident resulting from severe mental stress brought about by overwork and power harassment, it was confirmed on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old male worker of the regional bank based in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, moved to the bank's Kawagoe branch in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, in April 2017, his fourth year at the bank, and was assigned to work as a corporate sales representative for the first time. He was found to have killed himself on May 31 the same year after failing to come to work.
According to the lawyer representing the bereaved family, Labor Standards Inspection Office findings showed the man was under extreme psychological stress due to unmanageable work pressures in a new field he had no experience in and daily power harassment from his supervisor.