Shashi Tharoor on EY employee's death: 'If a company needs 16-hr days and nights from its employees...'

Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday met the parents of the deceased 26-year-old Chartered Accountant (CA) who was working with Ernst & Young (EY). In July, Anna Sebastian Perayil, the 26-year-old EY Pune employee died of a heart attack allegedly caused by overwork and stress and pressure from her managers. 

Her mother Anita Augustine in a letter to EY India chairman Rajiv Memani raised the issue of "glorification" of overwork at the Big 4 consulting and accounting firm. 

Sharing pictures with the victim's parents on X (formerly Twitter), Tharoor said that he discussed with them the need for inquiry and accountability, new laws and regulations to reform the work culture of "bottom-line-obsessed under-staffed establishments".

He also said that better training was needed for mid-level managers, to whom the young employees report. The Thiruvananthapuram MP also attacked the companies for promoting a culture of overworking. 

"If a company needs 16-hour days and nights from employees all the time, it needs to hire more people, not abuse the rights of those it recruits and exploits," he wrote. 

This, however, is not the first time that Tharoor has spoken on this issue. Last week, the Congress leader spoke to Anna Perayil's father Sibi Joseph and pitched for a 40-hour work week at private companies. 

Tharoor also mentioned that Anna used to work "stressful" seven-day weeks of 14 hours a day at EY. "He suggested, and I agreed, that I raise the issue of legislating, through Parliament, a fixed calendar for all workplaces, whether in the private sector or the public, that would not exceed eight hours a day, five days a week," he said. 

EY India chairman Rajiv Memani said in a statement that he regrets the fact that no one from the company attended Anna's funeral. He added that he "would not rest" till the objective of nurturing a harmonious workplace is accomplished. 

Meanwhile, the Centre has said that it is investigating the circumstances at EY Pune that led to Anna Sebastian Perayil's death.