In April, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government implemented an ordinance prohibiting abusive behavior by customers, commonly called “customer harassment.” Lawmakers are also discussing a bill that would require companies to implement measures to protect workers from such behavior. As the problem becomes more widespread across various industries, the Ministry of Labour is providing a manual and training video to support companies. This article looks at details.
[1] Promotion of pleasant workplace
The ministry has websites to provide various information relating to labor management. Among them, the special site for harassment includes information on sexual harassment, power harassment, harassment relating to maternity or childcare leave and harassment by customers or recruiters.
[2] Tools to deal with customer harassment
The website provides the following information for companies.
- Materials to promote measures against customer harassment by industries (company manuals, posters, training videos, examples of procedures for creating a manual)
- Case examples of companies adopting measures against customer harassment
- Manuals, leaflets and posters
The website provides an example of a model project for supermarkets. Industry organizations have developed common policies for dealing with abusive or unreasonable customers, based on real cases. In 2024, the manual was put into actual use by supermarket operators. The supermarket manual, along with campaign posters and training videos, was also released in March.
The ministry has also provided a sample procedure for creating a manual, which can serve as a reference for other industries. Some companies have already implemented measures and displayed posters where customers can see them. Please make use of this information when considering measures against customer harassment.
[Reference]
Promotion of pleasant workplace, “Do you know customer harassment?”
https://www.no-harassment.mhlw.go.jp/customer_hara_index
The Ministry of Labour, “Industries’ manual for handling customer harassment (Supermarket version)”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_55395.html
The information is based on laws and regulations as of the date of the original article.
