Death of an EY employee in India: Harsh Goenka shares 6 tips to promote a healthy workplace culture

RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka urged Indian companies to take immediate steps to promote a healthy workplace culture after Anna Sebastian Perayil, an auditor at Ernst & Young (EY) India, died on July 20, allegedly due to work-related stress.

“India Inc needs to take urgent steps to promote a healthier work culture following the tragic death of EY’s Anna Sebastian Perayil,” Goenka said in his post on social media platform X.

1. Well-being is a priority: Goenka stressed the importance of making individual wellbeing a top priority, which requires companies to implement mental health programs, manageable workloads and wellness initiatives.

2. Support new employees: Companies should support their new employees and offer mentoring to help them adjust to new roles and environments.

3. Combat burnout: To prevent burnout, companies should stop glorifying an overwork culture and reward efficiency instead of overtime.

4. Promote open communication: Communication is critical in any business environment and it is important to address employee concerns without fear of reprisal.

5. Responsible leadership: Employees should hold leaders accountable for creating a toxic work environment in a company. This helps the leader take responsibility as well.

6. Promote work-life balance: Employees should draw clear boundaries between working time and free time and respect the employee's well-being.

Harsh Goenka also stressed that “what is needed is real change, not condolences”.

Rajiv Memani, Chairman and Managing Director of Ernst & Young India, said his company employs nearly 1,000,000 people, all of whom have to work hard. “We have around 100,000 employees. There is no doubt that each of them has to work hard,” he noted.

On Thursday, India's labour ministry announced it would launch an investigation into the incident, days after an emotional letter from Anna Sebastian Perayil's mother was shared online.

According to the mother's letter, Anna worked very hard at EY. The workload and long hours took a physical, emotional and mental toll on her. The mother also noted that Anna continued to work on herself despite enormous stress and anxiety.