The offices of Ernst & Young are being investigated for not following mandatory labour rules on work hours
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The mother of Anna Sebastian Perayil, the Ernst & Young (EY) employee who allegedly died due to work pressure, has claimed that the company did not release her daughter's full and final settlement even after two months of her demise.
According to a report by The Hindu, Anna's mother Anita Augustine has also accused S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune where Anna worked, of lying to the Maharashtra labour department about her daughter getting compensatory offs.
Anita told the publication that Anna did not get any compensation, any comp off or weekend off.
Talking about the full and final settlement from the firm, Anita said that she only received the amount on September 18 after media outrage.
According to her mother, Anna's offer letter stated that in case of an unfortunate demise, EY will pay three times of the last drawn CTC (cost to company). “Anna’s CTC was Rs 9.5 lakh. Three times the amount is Rs 28.5 lakh. We received this amount only after the media attention. We were given the money on September 18,” she told the publication.
Meanwhile, the SRBC has told the labour department that they had deposited Rs 28.5 lakh to Anna’s account for the employment for the period from March 11, 2024, to July 19, 2024.
The firm has claimed that it gave double remuneration and comp offs for extra work, the publication said, citing the labour department.
Anita, however, contested these claims and said that the amount received by the family is under the company's clause for unfortunate demise of an employee and not remuneration for extra work.
She also said that unlike what the firm has claimed, Anna's last day at work was July 20. Claiming mobile phone chats as proof, Anita said that Anna had told her manager that her laptop was not working and that she was going to office to get it resolved as the IT department was unable to help her.
"She had gone to work that day. We do not have access to her laptop now. But her phone has these conversation details,” she said. Anna fell ill on the evening of July 20.
Anna Sebastian Perayil, who passed her CA exams in 2023, worked at EY Pune office for four months before she succumbed to 'work pressure', according to her family. Her mother this month wrote to EY India chairman Rajiv Memani flagging the 'glorification' of overwork at the multinational consulting firm.