Employees were reportedly ordered to use bicycles instead of motorcycles after minor incidents
Japan Post is putting the brakes on a practice of making mail carriers involved in minor accidents use bicycles instead of motorbikes, after facing public and media scrutiny.
The decision came after one postal employee told the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) he was placed under the order after causing property damage while doing his rounds on a motorcycle.
According to the employee, he was given an electric bike for a total of eight days. However, his load remained the same, and he had to cover the same distance as before in soaring heat.
He told NHK the experience was physically and mentally painful, and it felt like he was a victim of punishment and harassment.
Japan Post initially defended the practice as a "training" to prevent recurrence, stating that it had no punitive purposes, according to the NHK report. But after the reports, an internal document quoted by NHK stated: "No operational reason can be found for this practice, which could be perceived as a punitive or harassing act.”
A Japan Post official told The South China Morning Post the organisation recognised "that situations can arise where the employee involved in the accident does not fully understand or receive adequate explanation regarding the purpose and objectives of the training."
The company had now prohibited training whose content or duration “could be perceived as punishment or harassment”, the official told the news outlet.
