"Dentsu again found violating rules on overtime hours", 6 Dec 2019

…Two years after being convicted for its long-hour working practices, which had led to the suicide of an employee, the advertising giant [Dentsu] was found to have violated labor laws in 2018 by failing to curb the overtime work of some employees. A local labor standard office in Tokyo recommended it correct the situation in September.

…"We'll continue our reforms of our working environment," [Dentsu’s] public relations division said.

…In October 2017, a court ordered the ad agency to pay 500,000 yen in fines after labor authorities concluded the previous year that Matsuri Takahashi, a 24-year-old new female employee of company, committed suicide in 2015 due to excessive overtime work.

Dentsu has a labor-management agreement which limits monthly overtime work to 45 hours per person. The limit can be extended to 75 hours if employees apply in advance.

The authorities this time found several breaches of the rules. In one case, a sales employee worked overtime for 156 hours in a month.

Takahashi's suicide sparked a nationwide debate over severe working conditions in Japan, prompting the government and business circles to take measures to improve the labor environment.

Dentsu announced its reform plan in July 2017, pledging to cut overall working hours per person by 20 percent in fiscal 2019 from levels in fiscal 2014.