Can you be fired for doing too much? In the case of Ernst & Young, it appears that you can. EY recently fired a group of employees for participating in more than one online training session at the same time, stating that it was an ethical breach of conduct.
The EY employees who faced the brunt of the dismissal expressed their surprise and disappointment at the decision, stating that they were not aware that they were breaking any rules. The EY online training dispute has sparked some backlash, but the organization has not seen fit to reverse the decision or take another look at the situation.
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EY Fires Employees for Attending Multiple Online Trainings Simultaneously
Most organizations operate with a pre-determined and explicitly stated code of conduct. Occasionally, there are often rules that are not overtly discussed, but these unsaid regulations still govern the workplace. In this case, EY has fired employees for attending multiple trainings at once during the EY Ignite Learning Week event that was held in May.
A spokesperson for EY said, “Our core values of integrity and ethics are at the forefront of everything we do. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken on any violation of our Code of Conduct and/or US Learning Policy.”
Reports regarding the incident have not revealed what policies were violated and exactly why the company chose to crack down on this infraction so seriously. There was no preliminary disciplinary action taken nor warnings provided to the employees who were said to be at fault. The scale of the punishment appears considerably more severe than one might expect, especially considering the fact that the employees were not provided any severance pay to acknowledge the abrupt end to their income. EY addressed the case as one of the employees “cheating” the system.
Workers Enraged at EY’s Employee Dismissal Strategy
Employees affected by EY’s online training dispute complained that the company’s response was disproportionate to the issue at hand. Employees stated that the marketing for the EY Ignite Learning Week event encouraged workers to participate in as many training sessions as possible according to their schedule.
“Their emails marketing EY Ignite actually encouraged us to join as many sessions as our schedule allowed. We all work with three monitors. I was hoping to hear new ideas to set myself apart from others,” an employee told the Financial Times. Employees already familiar with working on multiple tasks saw this event as an opportunity to gain insight into a few different topics at once and chose to do so by dividing their attention between these events simultaneously.
EY saw this behavior as “cheating” to gain credits for the training courses. Realistically, it might be impossible for an individual to attend and actually benefit from watching multiple training sessions at once, but considering that the work at the organization often calls for such multitasking, it does not appear to be a stretch for employees to extend this approach to their training as well.
The lack of clarity on the regulations and the absence of explicit instruction likely led to the misunderstanding between the employer and employees, however, EY’s decision to fire its employees has reignited the conversation around its work culture and the pressure of its fast-paced, high-target work system.
Meta recently gained some attention for its decision to fire employees over misuse of meal credits meant for food purchases made to the office, but misuse of company resources has always been a sensitive topic that elicits immediate action from employers.
Both the situation with Meta and the controversy surrounding EY’s guidelines on online courses serve as a good reminder for employers to pay close attention to their policies to ensure they are always up-to-date and clearly stated. While some regulations may appear obvious in principle, it is better to clarify them when needed.
