TOKYO — Yamato Holdings Co plans to retroactively pay employees for unpaid overtime in an effort to address tough working conditions faced by delivery drivers and other staff amid a manpower shortage, the company said Saturday.

The holding company of Yamato Transport Co, a door-to-door parcel delivery provider, will make the payments after determining the amount of wages owed in a survey of some 70,000 employees, according to the sources.

Delivery drivers are typically forced to work overtime without pay amid the growth of online shopping services which has led to a surge in the number of parcels.

The total amount of payment could reach several tens of billions of yen, as some drivers said the company owed them nearly 1 million yen ($8,750) in unpaid wages. Yamato Holdings, however, said it cannot predict the amount at this point.

It is rare for a major company to admit the existence of such unpaid wages and retroactively pay in Japan, where off-the-clock work is widespread.

Last August, a sales branch in Kanagawa Prefecture was admonished for violating the Labor Standard Law after not paying two of its drivers for their overtime work. The holding company was driven in part by the admonition to conduct a company-wide survey, according to the company.

The employees subject to the survey include Yamato Transport’s full-time sales drivers, who deliver parcels door-to-door, clerical staff at its sales branches, as well as employees at other group companies, the sources said.

Management and labor at Yamato have decided to start negotiations over working conditions at the company and decided that paying past unpaid overtime wages would be a prerequisite for the negotiation, the company said.

The company may stop allowing customers to ask for items to be delivered between noon and 2 p.m., as requested by its workers, and reduce work hours by shortening its evening delivery service, which now ends at 9 p.m. daily.

It may also start asking major clients such as Internet retailers to accept a hike in shipping charges and limit the volume of packages accepted from those clients.

© KYODO