‘8 hours a day, 5 days a week’: Shashi Tharoor vows to raise ‘inhumanity at workplace’ in Parliament amid outrage over death of EY employee

New Delhi: Congress leader and MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor Tharoor has advocated for an eight-hour workday, five days a week, following outrage over the death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant associated with Ernst and Young (EY). Tharoor stressed that “human rights do not end at work” and pushed for the need for legislation on working hours to have a fixed schedule for all workplaces, whether in the private or public sector, not exceeding eight hours a day, five days a week.

Tharoor, in his post on X, also talks about his conversation with the CA’s father, Sibi Joseph, and how work pressure affected Anna, who died after a cardiac arrest following four months of “deeply stressful seven-day weeks of 14 hours a day at Ernst & Young.”

“I had a deeply emotional and heart-wrenching conversation with Mr Sibi Joseph, the father of young Anna Sebastian, who passed away following a cardiac arrest, after four months of intensely stressful seven-day, 14-hour work weeks at Ernst & Young. He suggested, and I agreed, that I raise the issue of legislating, through Parliament, a fixed working time for all workplaces, whether in the private or public sector, not exceeding eight hours a day, five days a week,” Tharoor wrote.

Tharoor further assured that the issue will be raised at the earliest opportunity during the next session of parliament.

“Inhumanity in the workplace must be eradicated by law, with severe punishments and fines for violators. Human rights do not end at the workplace. We will raise this issue at the earliest opportunity during the next session of parliament,” he added.

Anna, who joined EY Pune in March 2024, passed away four months later in July. Her mother, Anita Augustine, has written an emotional letter to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani, calling for justice and calling for reforms within the organisation.

In the letter to the EY India Chairman, Anna’s mother Anita wrote: “I am writing this letter as a grieving mother who has lost her precious daughter… She joined EY Pune on 19 March 2024 as an Executive… But four months later, on 20 July, my world came crashing down when I received the devastating news that Anna had passed away. She was just 26 years old.”

EY Statement on Death of Staff

In a statement, EY said: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic and untimely passing of Anna Sebastian in July 2024, and we send our deepest condolences to the bereaved family. Anna was part of the Assurance team at SR Batliboi, an EY Global member firm, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on 18 March 2024. To have her promising career cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us.”

“While no measure can compensate for the loss suffered by the family, we have provided all assistance as we always do in times of distress and will continue to do so. We are taking the family’s correspondence with utmost seriousness and humility. We place utmost importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India,” the firm added.