Tharoor meets EY employee's parents, blasts 'toxic work culture' at 'understaffed' firms
Tharoor wrote that if a company needs 16-hour days and nights from its employees all the time, it needs to hire more people, not abuse the rights of those it recruits
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday hit out at the 'toxic work culture' in companies which were 'bottom-line-obsessed, under-staffed establishments'.
"If a company needs 16-hour days and nights from its employees all the time, it needs to hire more people, not abuse the rights of those it recruits and exploits," he said.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP made the observations on Wednesday after meeting the parents of a 26-year-old employee at tax consultancy major Ernst & Young (EY), who allegedly died due to 'work pressure'.
Emotional visit
Tharoor shared pictures on X with Anna Sebastian Perayil’s anguished parents during his visit to their house, which he described as 'emotional'.
The senior Congress leader alleged that Anna died of a heart attack from 'overwork and intolerable stress and pressure from her managers'.
Further, he shared that he had discussed with them the need for an inquiry and accountability, new laws and regulations to reform the 'toxic work culture' of 'bottom-line-obsessed under-staffed establishments, and better training for mid-level managers'.
Letter that went viral
Anna Perayil worked for EY's Pune office for four months. She suddenly took ill and passed away in July.
A heart-wrenching letter by her mother, Anita Augustine, to EY India chairman Rajiv Memani flagged the "glorification" of overwork at the multinational consulting firm.
The letter triggered outrage in India and abroad after it went viral this month. EY, which did not even attend Anna Perayil’s funeral, responded publicly over the death only after the mother’s letter.
Legislating working hours
Earlier last week, Tharoor spoke to Anna's father, Sibi Joseph, and suggested a 40-hour work week.
"He (Anna's father) 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," Tharoor posted on X on September 20.
"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," he wrote.