Rajiv Memani, Chairman and Managing partner - EY India has broken his silence over the death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, who was employed as an Audit and Assurance executive at Ernst & Young (EY), Pune. In a Linkedin post, he said he was deeply saddened by her death and that he was committed to nurturing a harmonious workplace.
Anna's mother Anita Augustine wrote a letter to Rajiv Memani following the demise of Anna in which Anita recalled how Anna was put through enormous work stress and backbreaking work at EY. '' Anna confided in us about the overwhelming workload, especially the additional tasks assigned verbally, beyond the official work. She worked late into the night, even on weekends, with no opportunity to catch her breath. Anna's death should serve as a wake-up call for EY," Anita wrote in the e-mail.
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Anita also said in the e-mail that the absence of any EY representative at Anna's funeral was deeply hurtful. In response Rajiv Memani said, "I truly regret the fact that we missed being present at Anna’s funeral. This is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before; it will never happen again''.
"I am deeply saddened and as a father, I can only imagine Ms Augustine’s grief. I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, although nothing can fill the void in their lives. Over the past few days, I am aware that people have in their social media posts commented on some of our work practices. It has always been very important to us to create a healthy workplace and we attach the highest importance to the well-being of our people. I would like to affirm that the well-being of our people is my top-most priority and I will personally champion this objective. I am absolutely committed to nurturing a harmonious workplace, and I will not rest until that objective is accomplished," his post read.