EDITORIAL — Karoshi?

Are some people being worked to death, literally, at the City Health Department? According to a city councilor this may be a possibility.

Following a speech by Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos, the Cebu City Council has directed the city’s human resources department to investigate alleged “excessive working conditions” in the CHD after the death of a midwife who was allegedly clocked working 56 hours a week, in violation of the Magna Carta for workers which says that public health workers should only work 40 hours a week.

Councilor de los Santos was also able to present messages highlighting grievances of health workers regarding the long hours they were required to work and some practices and regulations allegedly being implemented by the CHD that could be deemed unfair or even unreasonable.

“If a midwife on 24-hour duty does not deliver a baby during her shift, they are not entitled to off-duty time the following day,” she said of one such policy during her speech.

Which is ridiculous, considering that while babies are indeed born every day, expecting a midwife to be able to assist in a delivery every single day isn’t realistic or even possible.

While we cannot ascertain for ourselves how the midwife died, her family directly blamed it on her heavy workload.

If indeed such policies are being implemented at the CHD, policies that eventually contributed to her death, then these should be corrected. Of all institutions, the government should serve as the best example of how an employer treats its employees.

The Japanese have a word specifically mean death by overwork; it is called “karoshi”. While Philippine culture doesn’t have a word for such a phenomenon, it is known for punishing work schedules, low salaries, and a poor work-life balance --placing 59th in a study of 60 countries by Remote's Global Life-Work Balance Index 2024.

With these already-adverse conditions, the best some employers can do is to make sure their employees aren’t worked to death literally.