Convenience stores provide many us a handy place to pop 24 hours a day to buy things we have forgotten or didn't have time to get other stores. They also provide part-time jobs thousands of people. A new report Japan suggests that some convenience stores are not so convenient their workers. The report, from Japan's national broadcaster NHK, says overbearing and unrealistic sales quotas are being imposed many part-time workers. Labor rights experts are calling store bosses to stop what they deem to be an exploitative practice. There are reports workers having hundreds of dollars deducted their salaries and having to buy unsold stock failing to meet the quotas.
An expert Japanese labor law Professor Mitsumo Uematsu said deducting a quota's worth unsold products from salaries violated labor laws. He also questioned why so many part-timers felt compelled to buy unsold stock, which could be "seen as being forced to take an economic burden because pressure stores". Professor Uematsu urged the headquarters convenience store chains to tackle this problem so that part-timers are not exploited. One part-time worker said he was "drowning quotas". Another said that workers can lose to 20-30% their monthly salary. The biggest losses come quotas for unsold seasonal items like Valentines and Christmas goods and special sushi rolls.
