EY staff told to work 16 hour days, weekends, and berated for getting food poisoning
It’s all work and no play for EY staff in the Hong Kong office, as employees were pressured to work until 11:30pm each week night and at the weekend during the busiest period.
An email from one manager at the Big Four firm in Hong Kong told staff they should be working 16-hour days during the firm’s busiest period, and during the weekend, according to reports.
The email, sent on 5 January by a manager in the assurance team in EY Hong Kong, said working hours during peak season are 9.30am to at least 11.30pm, adding that his team should also expect to spend one entire weekend day in the office, plus another half day working from home.
But in a gesture of generosity, the manager told staff they could stop working at 7:30pm on Friday night, when it “shall be fine” to have dinner with friends and family.
Separate stunningly insensitive messages allegedly from the same manager berated staff for failing to reply to Skype messages “in one minute” and even having the audacity to get food poisoning, go to the doctors, or want to spend time with loved ones.
“Please bear in mind, these reasons (or excuses) are too much for me already, don’t ever let excuses be your stumbling block. And once again, you can say I am harsh, but if I am not doing so, you will never improve,” he message added.
City PM has contacted EY for comment.