THE JAPAN NEWS

 

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Yamato Transport Co.’s management and labor have agreed to carry out reforms for the parcel delivery time slots to improve work conditions for its drivers, sources said Thursday.

The leading door-to-door parcel delivery firm will scrap the slot between noon and 2 p.m. in June to make it easier for its drivers to take lunch breaks, according to the agreement during the “shunto” wage negotiations.

The unit of Yamato Holdings Co. will also replace the popular slot between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. with a new slot between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in hopes of easing the concentration of delivery orders.

The daily deadline for accepting redeliveries will be moved to 7 p.m. from the current 8 p.m.

The management and labor sides also agreed to introduce in October a rule to secure an interval of at least 10 hours between the end of work one day and the start of work the following day.

As for salaries, the two sides agreed on a pay scale hike of ¥814 on average. As a result, the average monthly pay will increase by ¥6,338, up from the previous year’s hike of ¥5,024.

The number of parcels handled by Yamato Transport is seen rising 8 percent from the previous year to a record high of 1.87 billion in the current year ending this month, boosted by growth reflecting the rapid spread of online shopping.

This has caused many Yamato Transport drivers to work chronically long hours.