'Human rights…at workplace': Shashi Tharoor reacts to EY Pune employee Anna Sebastian Perayil's death
Shashi Tharoor said that he will raise the issue of legislating a fixed calendar for all workplaces in the next Parliament session.
Shashi Tharoor of the Congress on Friday reacted to the recent death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant (CA) from Kerala who worked at Ernst & Young, saying human rights do not stop at the workplace. He also shared his “heartrending” conversation with Anna's father.
“Had a deeply emotional and heartrending conversation with Shri Sibi Joseph, the father of young Anna Sebastian, who passed away after a cardiac arrest, following four months of deeply stressful seven-day weeks of 14 hours a day at Ernst&Young,” Tharoor wrote on X.
According to the Congress leader, he will raise the issue of legislating 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 - in the next Parliament session.
Also read: EY Pune employee death: BJP leader calls for investigation, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP reacts: ‘…we glorify 72-hour work’
“Inhumanity at the workplace must be legislated out of existence with stringent punishment and fines for offenders. Human rights do not stop at the workplace! Will raise this matter at the first opportunity during the next session of parliament,” he wrote.
Anna died of cardiac arrest on June 20 following excessive workload and poor work culture at EY - as alleged by her mother. In an open letter, Anna's mother detailed her daughter's struggles with anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress due to an overwhelming workload, citing instances where her manager prioritised work over employee well-being.
The victim, who worked at EY's Pune for four months as part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, also worked late into the night and on weekends, returned to her PG accommodation completely exhausted on most days, her mother claimed.
‘Don’t believe work pressure claimed her life’: EY India boss
As EY received massive backlash following the victim's mother's letter went viral on social media, EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani said that he does not believe work pressure claimed her life.
“We have around one lakh employees. There is no doubt each one has to work hard. Anna worked with us only for four months. She was allotted work like any other employee. We don’t believe that work pressure could have claimed her life…While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so,” he said.
Centre takes up complaint
Union minister of labour and employment, Mansukh Mandaviya, reacted to the victim's death allegedly due to overwork, saying that action will be taken based on whatever facts are revealed in the investigation.
“Be it a white collar job or any worker, whenever a citizen of the country dies, it is natural to be saddened by it. The matter is being investigated, and action will be taken based on whatever facts are revealed in the investigation,” he said.