Prolonged hours of work and unpaid overtime are increasingly being forced on non-Japanese technical interns at some sewing companies in the east of Hiroshima Prefecture, an investigation by the Chugoku Shimbun has found.
Experts say the situation is only the tip of the iceberg, illustrating how the vulnerable trainees are bearing the brunt of economic fallout from a shrinking apparel market at home.
The investigation found the interns to have routinely been expected to perform more than 100 hours of overwork a month — far beyond the legally permissible limit. And, in many cases, they had been receiving hourly overtime pay worth only half the standard minimum wage.
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