The Ernst & Young (EY) office in Pune, where the 26-year-old, who allegedly died of work overload, has been found to be functioning without a state permit that regulates its work hours. A Financial Express report quotes a senior government official confirming that the company was operating since 2007 without the permit.
According to the report, Maharashtra’s Additional Labour Commissioner Shailendra Pol had also confirmed that the Pune EY office did not register under the Shops and Establishments Act, which limits working hours to 9 hours per day and 48 hours per week.
“EY applied for registration only in February 2024, which we rejected because they have been non-compliant since the office opened in 2007,” Pol had said. The company has now been given seven days to explain the lapse.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of Anna’s death, saying that if media reports are true, it raises serious issues regarding challenges faced by young citizens at work, suffering from mental stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep, adversely affecting their physical and mental health while chasing impractical targets and timelines resulting in grave violations of their human rights.
“It is the prime duty of every employer to provide a safe, secure and positive environment to its employees. They must ensure that everyone working with them is treated with dignity and fairness,” the NHRC said. It issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, calling for a detailed report within four weeks and sought to know the steps being taken and proposed to be taken to ensure such incidents do not recur.
The Union Labour Ministry has earlier ordered a probe after the deceased woman’s mother blamed the company for overwork.
In a heart-wrenching letter to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani, deceased Anna Sebastian Perayil’s mother claimed that her daughter, 26, passed away on July 21 after being burdened with a "backbreaking workload" and "work stress". Anna worked for four months at the accounting firm.
Anna’s mother in her letter to the Chairman said EY’s work culture "seems to glorify overwork while neglecting the very human being behind the role". She claimed that Anna would return to her room “utterly exhausted” but would again be “bombarded” with work messages. The mother said that while Anna was “a fighter to the core”, “the overwhelming pressure proved too much even for her".
Meanwhile, Sibi Joseph, father of the young Anna, said they have no plans to take legal action against the company. “My wife wrote the letter to the Chairman to ensure that even though our daughter is gone, such a thing should not happen to any other person. We are not going to take any legal steps against the company also," said Joseph.
(With IANS inputs)