For about 17 years now, the office of Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune has been functioning without a state permit which ensures regulation of work hours! And it took the death of an overworked employee and a grieving mother’s letter to discover this lapse! According to a Reuters report, EY did not obtain the permit back in 2007 when the office became operational. As per the law, adults cannot be made to work for more than nine hours a day and 48 hours a week.
A probe had been ordered by the Union Labour Ministry into the work policies, operational processes and working environment of EY after Anna Sebastian, who was employed as an audit and assurance executive at the firm lost her life due to overwork.
A letter written by Sebastian’s mother to Rajeev Memani, EY chairman, drawing attention to the unfavourable and unhealthy work culture at the organisation went viral on social media. It was Anne Augustine, Sebastian’s mother who alleged that the unreasonable pressure and impractical deadlines had led to the death of her otherwise healthy 26-year old daughter.
Sebastian’s mother accused EY of glorifying overwork and nurturing a culture of burning the midnight oil. She also drew attention to the insensitivity of the organisation that completely ignored the well-being of a young employee who had worked hard day and night for four months to prove her mettle. What was worse that nobody from the organisation had attended her funeral or even responded to her parents who were trying to reach out to her managers.
Following media outrage over EY’s heartlessness, the Central government ordered an investigation into the incident.
Shailendra Pol, additional labour commissioner, Maharashtra, had visited EY’s Pune office to closely examine its work processes and policies seeking details of the same. He gave the office seven days to submit the information and explain why it was not registered under the Shops and Establishments Act of Maharashtra. It had only applied for the same early this year, almost 17 years after it had begun operations!
