After a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant (CA) and an employee of Ernst and Young (EY) lost her life, allegedly due to ‘excessive workload’, Deloitte has now formed a three-member panel to review the firm's people practices.
Both Ernst and Young (EY) and Deloitte are part of the Big 4 accountancy firms — the other two being KPMG and PwC.
The death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, which occurred on June 21, grabbed headlines recently after a letter written to EY Chairman Rajiv Memani, by the deceased’s mother went viral on social media platforms and sparked a discussion on social media platforms about the toxic work environment and exploitative practices in large corporate organisations — especially the Big Fours.
After the incident became viral, the Centre’s Ministry of Labour and Employment, headed by Mansukh Mandaviya, also took up an official complaint against these claims.
EY India also issued a statement commiserating the death of the employee.
“We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian’s tragic and untimely passing in July 2024, and our deepest condolences go to the bereaved family,” EY India Chairman Memani said in a statement.
“We are taking the family’s correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India,” the statement added.
