The company made me work so much that my daughter died, no one from the office even came to her funeral: Mother’s letter to her boss

New Delhi/Pune:

Targets, meetings, presentations, deadlines, long duty and weekly shift changes… This is what the work culture of the corporate industry is like these days. Sometimes it leads to productivity. But, often the effect of such work culture starts showing on the health of the staff. This is the reason why today’s youth working in the private sector and corporate culture fall prey to many types of mental illnesses and depression. Something similar happened with a girl working in UK’s professional service provider company Ernst & Young (EY). The girl died due to bad work culture and work load. Now her mother has written a letter to the company.

The girl’s mother, Anita Augustine, has written a letter to Ernst & Young India’s chairman Rajiv Memani. In this, she claimed that her 26-year-old daughter was made to do so much work in the office that her health deteriorated. She died within 4 months of joining the company. Even no one from her office thought it necessary to attend her funeral.

In the letter, the girl’s mother has asked the chairman to improve the office culture. The girl’s mother said, “We exaggerate overwork. But we forget humanity in all this. I hope that after my daughter’s death, your organization will try to improve the work culture.”

EY has also issued a statement on the letter of the girl’s mother. EY expressed regret over the girl’s death and said that we are taking the family’s reaction seriously.

Anita Augustine wrote in her letter, “My daughter Anna Prasad passed the Chartered Accountancy (CA) exam in November last year. She joined EY in Pune on March 19 this year.”

Anita Augustine further writes, “She was a lively girl. She wanted to live life to the fullest. She had many dreams which she wanted to fulfill. She was very excited about her future. EY was her first job. She was very happy to join the company. But 4 months later, on 20 July 2024, my world changed. Everything was over. I got the news that my daughter is no longer in this world. She was only 26 years old.”

Anita Augustine writes, “My daughter Anna was a fighter. She was very good in studies. She topped the college. Apart from studies, she was also good in extra-curricular activities. She passed the CA exam with distinction.”

According to Augustine, when Anna joined EY Pune, she was told that many staff in her team had resigned earlier due to workload. The manager told her to work diligently and change her mindset about workload.

Augustine writes, “Anna worked very hard at EY. She did everything for the company. However, due to the workload, new environment and long shifts, her health started deteriorating. The bad work culture had a negative impact on my daughter. She started living under stress. She did not sleep for long nights. Her daily routine was disturbed due to the need to meet the deadline. She was not able to pay attention to her health and her food. She used to work till late nights. She used to do office work even on Sundays and holidays. Due to this, she started falling ill.”

Augustine said that she and her husband had gone to Pune on July 6 to attend Anna’s CA convocation. At that time, her daughter complained of chest tightness. Augustine says, “We took our daughter to the hospital. Her ECG was done. The report was normal. We also consulted a heart specialist. The doctor gave some medicines. After getting better a bit, Anna started insisting on going to work. She was told that if she takes more leave, the workload will increase. The targets will not be completed on time. Gradually, her health was deteriorating. One day she died.”

Augustine writes, “I wish I could save my child. I wish I could help her. I wish I could tell her that her health and her happiness matter more than anything else in the world. But it’s too late to say all that now.”