The Japan Sumo Association decided at a board meeting Thursday to discipline two officials for failing to properly pay overtime and repeatedly harassing some employees.
The association will suspend Tetsuji Miyata, its administrative affairs chief, for one month, and demote the head of the office in charge of accounting by one rank.
According to the association and other sources, the improper calculation of overtime and other allowances began in 2017. Unpaid overtime over the last three years, for which the statute of limitations has not expired, amounted to more than ¥100 million ($670,000) for 67 workers, including retirees.
The association started paying the unpaid amount in August. But 12 people have refused to receive the payments because they are not satisfied with the association's explanations.
Meanwhile, the administrative affairs chief unilaterally reduced the salaries of some employees and asked job applicants to explain their pregnancy and childbirth plans.
The accounting office head harassed some employees by restricting their access to shared computer servers.
The two were also confirmed to have verbally abused employees.