NHK has learned that an employee of Japan Post was ordered to deliver mail by bicycle amid extremely hot weather after causing property damage while doing his rounds on a motorcycle.
Other mail carriers and labor unions of Japan Post have told NHK that such an order has been issued at other branches as well. They said it is called “punitive bicycle,” and that some employees have called for it to be scrapped.
The case investigated by NHK involves a mail carrier who works at a branch in Tokyo. He was doing deliveries in late August when he parked a post-office issued motorcycle that fell over and damaged a parked vehicle.
He was then ordered by a superior to do his rounds by bicycle for two weeks.
The mail carrier did the work on an electric bike for a total of eight days through early September. Every day, he carried items weighing dozens of kilograms, and his loads were the same weight and volume as before.
Temperatures topped 35 degrees Celsius in central Tokyo for five out of the eight days. The mercury reached 38.5 degrees on one day.
The postman said he had to cover the same distance as before while under a scorching sun that left him sweaty and exhausted. He said his body ached the next morning.
The man also said his boss gave no clear explanation for the order. He described the experience as physically and mentally painful, and that he felt he was a victim of punishment and harassment.
Japan Post officials told NHK the order was training aimed at preventing a recurrence, and contained no punitive purposes.
The officials also said they performed due diligence by providing the employee with an electric bicycle after taking into consideration the volume of mail to be delivered.
But NHK has learned that Japan Post has admitted to employees that the two-week period was rather long, and that it failed to fully explain the training’s effect and purpose.
Also, Japan Post reportedly notified its offices that the order in question lacked a job-related rationale and could be seen by some people as punitive and harassing. Japan Post has since banned such treatment across the board.
