EY Oceania apologises to staff, promises to adopt 27 recommendations in report
An independent report on EY Oceania's workplace culture has revealed "distressing" cases of bullying, sexual harassment, and racism suffered by employees.
The report, which was carried out by independent experts Elizabeth Broderick & Co (EB&Co), looked into EY Oceania's workplace culture, work practices, and psychological health and safety through an online survey of over 4,100 employees, more than 200 listening sessions, and 21 key informant interviews.
It found that in the last five years, 15% of employees experienced bullying, 10% experienced sexual harassment, while eight per cent experienced racism.
Women were more likely to experience bullying and sexual harassment than men, according to the report, while employees who identified as Indian, Chinese, Māori were more likely to experience racism.
The findings “are distressing and completely unacceptable,” said David Larocca, EY Regional Managing Partner and CEO Oceania, in a statement. “Bullying, sexual harassment, and racism have no place at EY Oceania and I apologise to anyone who has suffered as a result.”
'Low trust' of reporting mechanisms
According to the report, employees who suffered from bullying, sexual harassment, or racism were also less likely to report them.
Only 36% of bullied employees and 17% of sexually harassed staff said they filed a report. Similarly, only seven per cent of employees who experienced racism reported it.
This indicates "low trust" of EY Oceania's reporting mechanisms, according to the report, which attributed this to retribution experienced by staff.
"Many people have experienced retribution, particularly loss of access to advancement opportunities, when they have either formally or informally reported harmful experiences," the report said.
Long working hours reported
The report also discovered that 31% of employees at EY Oceania are working 51 hours or more hours in a week, routinely. Even 10% of the organisation's "part-time" staff are working similar hours in a week.
As a result of long working hours, 46% said their health has been negatively affected, while 42% said they are considering quitting.
"Long working hours and overwork are a critical issue," the report said. "For many people, long working hours and overwork create unsustainable ways of working and are having a negative effect on individual wellbeing, team cohesion and retention.
Positives to EY Oceania report
Overall, the report found that majority of employees feel safe (94%) in the workplace, that people behave in a respectful manner (92%), and they rarely felt excluded (74%).
However, it also found that employees belonging from the following groups experience lower levels of safety and inclusion in the workplace:
"While the report shows many people have had a positive experience working at EY Oceania, it also shows that this is not everyone's experience and that we have fallen short of the standard that everyone who works at EY has a right to expect," Larocca said.
Recommendations for workplace improvements
The report made 27 recommendations to help EY Oceania improve - suggestions that Larocca said they wholly accept.
"EY Oceania accepts all of the recommendations made in the report and commits to their implementation. It is critical that all our people have the opportunity to reflect on what this report has told us, and that they are able to contribute to the meaningful action we take in response to these findings," Larocca said.
Among the recommendations include revising the company's Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), carrying out evidence-based training to build awareness on the impact of harmful behaviour, as well as improving reporting to create a more transparent and trusted process.
Elizabeth Broderick, principal of EB&Co, lauded EY Oceania for commissioning and immediately publishing the review.
"That the firm commissioned the Review, and immediately committed to making the report public, even in the face of potentially challenging findings, represents an act of courageous leadership and a deep desire to learn and grow," Broderick said.
EY Oceania commissioned the review after the death of Aishwarya Venkat in the firm's Sydney office in September 2022. According to the firm, it also wanted to "better understand" the experiences of its staff following COVID-19.
