EY India office whose employee died lacked labour welfare permit: Sources

The Ernst & Young (EY) office in Pune, one of whose employees died allegedly due to overwork, has operated since 2007 without a state permit which regulates work hours, sources told India Today TV.
After the death of EY employee Anna Sebastian Perayil, the company office in Yerwada was inspected by the Labour Commissionerate on Monday. During the inspection, some important errors were found in relation to the Shop Act.
The company, which has been running since 2007, does not have a Shop Act licence, but sources say it applied for it online in February this year.
A Shop Act licence is a legal requirement under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, which regulates work conditions, including employee rights, working hours, wages, and safety. The licence must be obtained from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to operate legally.
The labour department is considering matters regarding the alleged exploitation of workers. If there is a need to work more than eight hours, the permission of the manager of the concerned company should be required.
Apart from this, there should be a central logout system for laptops. According to this system, employee’s laptop automatically logs out after eight hours.
Anna Sebastian Perayil, 26, joined EY India’s Pune office as an audit executive on March 18 this year and worked till July 19. On July 21, Anna died following a heart attack.
Her mother wrote to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani alleging that the workload and extended working hours took a toll on her daughter. The firm, however, rejected the allegations.