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Several former EY employees fired for completing multiple online training courses at once have hit back at the company, questioning whether their behavior was unethical.
The consulting giant sacked dozens of staff in the US last week after an investigation found the employees had simultaneously attended different training courses during its “Ignite Learning Week” in May.
EY said the staff behaved unethically and cheated the system by completing two programs at once.
But several employees have claimed their sacking was unfair, as reported by the Financial Employees. They stated they were not told they couldn’t complete multiple sessions at once and that emails from the company encouraged them to attend as many sessions as possible.
Why did EY fire employees for completing multiple training sessions at once?
The training programs took place during EY Ignite Learning Week earlier this year, covering a range of sessions including ‘Conversing with AI, one prompt at a time’ and ‘How strong is your digital brand in the marketplace?’.
Each session carried credits, with all EY employees required to achieve 40 education professional education credits over the course of a year. After conducting an investigation, EY found that employees who had consumed multiple sessions at once were in violation of the company’s code of conduct.
“Our core values of integrity and ethics are at the forefront of everything we do,” EY told the FT. “Appropriate disciplinary action was recently taken in a small number of cases where individuals were found to be in violation of our global code of conduct and US learning policy.”
EY has a history of professional education “cheating” scandals, with the most recent crackdown indicating the company is taking a harder line with employees than in recent years.
In 2022, EY paid over $100million to the US Securities and Exchange Commission after members of its accounting department were found to be sharing answers during professional tests.
The scale of the historically large penalty was in part due to company leaders misleading investigators.
“This unacceptable past behavior has been thorough, extensive, and effective”, EY said at the time, pledging to embed more disciplinary action and “strengthen” its stance on “compliance, ethics, and integrity.”
EY tweaks training communications amid backlash from fired employees
Several employees who were fired by EY for their behavior have criticized the company, arguing messaging around the training was unclear.
“Their emails marketing EY Ignite actually encouraged us to join as many sessions as our schedule allowed,” one former consultant said, speaking to the FT.
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EY has since changed its communication with staff around Ignite Learning Week. Ahead of next year’s programme, recent emails have specified that all workers are “expected to complete this learning activity with integrity, including being present for all content and class interactions."
The email clearly warns employees that they “should not take any other learning while completing this activity.”
Did a culture of “multitasking” and EY systems lead to training breaches?
Complaints from affected staff also claimed EY’s culture of high workloads and internal competition contributed to their decision to consume multiple programs at once.
“We all work with three monitors,” the same consultant said. “I was hoping to hear new ideas that I could bring to the table to separate myself from others.”
Another former employee fired over the training debacle told the FT that ET “breeds a culture of multitasking.”
“If you are forced to bill 45 hours a week and do many more hours of internal work, how can it not?” they queried.
A third affected individual claimed they were aware of a partner who completes multiple client calls simultaneously, turning their camera on and off to switch between the two meetings. “If this is unethical, then that is unethical, too.”
Other EY staff members using employee messaging platform Fishbowl also questioned the company’s handling of the training disciplinary action.
One user described the incident as “bizarre” and “just cruel,” stating the matter was EY’s responsibility for using technology that made completing more than one session at once possible. “If this was so important, then implement better systems,” they wrote.
The individual suggested reducing bonuses or delay promotions as more appropriate sanctions.
EY under the spotlight for intense work culture
The former employees are not the first to criticize EY for a reported culture of overwork. The company faced significant backlash after the death of a 26-year old employee, Anna Sebastian Perayil, who worked in its office in Pune, India.
Perayil’s mother sent an open letter to EY India’s Chairman, Rajiv Memani, claiming the “workload, new environment, and long hours” contributed to her daughter’s untimely death.
EY said it “places the highest importance on the well-being of all employees” and would “continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace.”
