The Big Four professional service firm EY has sacked dozens of employees for streaming multiple training videos at once to meet their quotas. EY confirmed last week that it had fired some of its US employees for trying to save their time by watching several online training courses simultaneously.
The firm requires its staff to take a certain number of training courses in a given year. It determined that watching multiple courses at once was unethical. The Big Four professional service firm faced a backlash after it overreacted and put pressure on its employees to complete training, while expecting them to maximize billable hours.
The story was first reported by one of the employees who had been fired. He accused EY’s of encouraging a culture that encourages multi-tasking. Another employee said EY encouraged its staff to attend training sessions in as many numbers as possible. The employees also asked why EY permitted multiple streams of Zoom sessions to be streamed on its systems, if only a single session was allowed.
EY has tightened its tolerance for staff infractions following a $100 million fine by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2022. This was after dozens employees of the firm cheated by sharing answers on an ethics test and the firm then hindered SEC’s investigation.
It is not a new concept to monitor staff behavior through their digital footprint. This year, EY UK began monitoring swipe card data as part of an effort to crackdown on employees working from home.
A fired EY consultant said that no one had warned him that it was not possible to watch multiple sessions at once during the May events. The emails promoting [the training course programme] encouraged us to attend as many sessions as we could. All of us work on three monitors. “I was hoping for new ideas to help me stand out from the crowd.”
EY warned employees in August that they were expected to “complete this learning activity with integrity” and be present at all class sessions. It said that you should not do any other learning during this activity.
EY’s US office said that “our core values of ethics and integrity are at the forefront in everything we do.” Recently, disciplinary actions were taken against a few individuals who violated our global code and US learning policy.
The EY UK employees are required to sign the global code of conduct, just like their American counterparts.
A spokesperson for the UK company said that it would take disciplinary actions against anyone found in violation of the code, including for exam cheating. They had several safeguards in place for this.
Post Disclaimer
The following content has been published by Stockmark.IT. All information utilised in the creation of this communication has been gathered from publicly available sources that we consider reliable. Nevertheless, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this communication.
This communication is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as an offer, recommendation, solicitation, inducement, or invitation by or on behalf of the Company or any affiliates to engage in any investment activities. The opinions and views expressed by the authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Company, its affiliates, or any other third party.
The services and products mentioned in this communication may not be suitable for all recipients, by continuing to read this website and its content you agree to the terms of this disclaimer.