Death of Ernst & Young employee triggers debate about toxic corporate culture

The death of a young Ernst & Young (EY) employee, allegedly due to excessive workload, has sparked a discussion about the stressful work culture in India’s largest companies.

Anna Sebastian Perayil, 26, worked as an auditor at SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune, a city in the western state of Maharashtra. After four months on the job, Perayil died of what her father described The News Minute as a combination of “several problems, including acid reflux, work stress, work pressure”.

According to a letter written by her mother Anita Augustine to the head of EY India, Anna started working at EY Pune on March 19, 2024, but “the workload, new environment and long working hours took their toll on her physically, emotionally and mentally.”

Ms. Augustine further described how she took Perayil to the doctor in July after she had been suffering from “chest tightness” for about a week. The doctor prescribed antacids and pointed out that Perayil “was not getting enough sleep and was eating very late.”

Nevertheless, Mrs. Augustine wrote, her daughter continued to work “late into the night, even on weekends, without opportunity to catch her breath.”

In addition, Perayil struggled with poor management, with her manager allegedly regularly postponing meetings “during cricket matches and assigning her tasks at the end of the day.”

“Anna’s experience shines a light on a work culture that seems to glorify overwork while neglecting the people behind the tasks. It’s not just about my daughter, it’s about every young professional who comes to EY full of hopes and dreams, only to be crushed under the weight of unrealistic expectations,” Ms Augustine wrote.

“Anna’s death should be a wake-up call for EY.”

Ms Augustine said no one from EY attended Anna’s funeral. “After her funeral, I contacted her superiors but received no response,” she wrote. How can a company that speaks of values ​​and human rights fail to be there for the public in the final moments of one of its own?”

EY said “work pressure” was not the reason for Perayil’s death.

“We have around 100,000 employees. There is no doubt that each of them has to work hard. Anna has only worked with us for four months. She was assigned work like any other employee,” said Rajiv Memani, head of EY India, The Indian Express“We don’t believe that the pressure of work could have cost her life.”

In a statement issued with The IndependentEY India said, “We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian’s tragic and untimely passing in July 2024 and our deepest condolences go out to the grieving family.

“Anna was part of the audit team at SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a short period of four months, joining the firm on March 18, 2024. That her promising career has been cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us. While nothing can compensate for the family’s loss, we have provided her with all possible assistance, as we always do in such times of need, and will continue to do so.

“We receive the family’s correspondence with utmost sincerity and humility. The wellbeing of all employees is our highest priority and we will continue to look for ways to provide and improve a healthy workplace for our 100,000 employees in EY member firms in India.”

Perayil’s death and her mother’s letter sparked a wave of grief and anger online, with industry professionals, including EY, sharing their experiences of toxic work environments and overwhelming workloads.

A colleague claimed on Reddit that he was notified of Perayil’s death via “a centralized email that had her LinkedIn picture attached with a standard short message” and that “the news was spread that she was already suffering from a health condition that was deteriorating.”

The employee echoed Ms. Augustine’s letter, writing, “We work an average of 16 hours a day during peak season and 12 hours a day during off-season. Weekends and holidays are not days off. Every year, EY voluntarily announces a day off to rejuvenate its employees. And yes, you guessed right! This is not a day off either. We work on this day too – from the office! Overwork is the only way to get promoted. Do it and let others do it.”

Another professional who said he worked at KPMG for four years described how he worked despite having Covid, “to the point where I could no longer sit upright because I had a fever and weakness.”

They said their manager “made it clear to managers that I had not completed the tasks on this particular assignment even though I had submitted a positive Covid test report.”

Several other employees at the Big Four accounting firms – Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, EY – shared similar stories on social media, describing working 14- to 18-hour days, being referred to as “resources” instead of by name, and receiving little to no support from their managers in managing their workload and stress.

Mr Memani’s response to Perayil’s death also drew criticism online, with many arguing that the attitude and previous statements of industry leaders contributed to the lax attitude towards worker welfare.

Many mentioned Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s October 2023 statement that India’s productivity was one of the lowest in the world and that Indians would have to “work 70 hours a week” to develop the country.

Lack of occupational safety and stress at work have long been a cause for concern in India. According to the International Labour Organization, 51 percent of Indian workers work more than 49 hours a week, making India the second-highest country in overtime after Bhutan.

A report published in July by the Confederation of Indian Industries and digital health platform MediBuddy showed that nearly 62 percent of Indian workers suffer from stress and burnout at work.

“The most important thing to remember here is that almost all entry-level employees are covered by the Industrial Disputes Act. Therefore, almost anyone who is not in a supervisory role is classified as a ‘worker’ and subject to the concept of overtime. If this overtime is not paid, it is essentially theft,” said Fidel Sebastian, a labour lawyer with the non-profit Nyay Neeti Foundation. The Independent.

According to the Factories Act, 1948 and the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, which deal with working hours of employees and overtime regulations in India respectively, if someone works more than 8-9 hours in a day or more than 48 hours in a week, he is entitled to double pay for the overtime.

According to Sebastian, employees who feel exploited can negotiate internally with their management about overtime pay. If this fails and reprisals are feared, employees are still protected. They can submit their complaint to the labor commissioner, who can decide how much overtime pay an employee will receive retroactively and what penalty the company must pay.

Sebastian stressed the importance of unionisation. For workers who feel exploited, the best course of action is to form a union to bargain collectively or make official demands.

Since there is no union, workers who want to contact management internally and negotiate overtime pay should do so in writing, he said.

However, such complaints usually lead to reprisals and, in many cases, dismissal.

“A registered union that is conducting litigation or arbitration against the company automatically protects the employee from dismissal if he or she makes such demands, because the company management must obtain the approval of the court or authority before such dismissal,” said Sebastian.

The Independent has asked EY, Deloitte and KPMG for comment.

India’s Deputy Labour Minister Shobha Karandlaje said in a post on X that the ministry would conduct a “thorough investigation into allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment.”