EY US sacks staff for taking multiple online training sessions at once!

A group of US-based EY employees have been sacked for breaking the firmā€™s ethical rules, according to reports in the Financial Times.

The group apparently took part in multiple online training sessions at once, as part of the firmā€™s ā€œEY Ignite Learning Weekā€.

Some employees told the newspaper that the punishment seemed very harsh, and they did not know they were breaking company policy by watching more than one training course at a time. Others even suggested they were encouraged by a ā€œculture of multitaskingā€!

An EY spokesperson told the FT: ā€œAt EY, 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.ā€

They continued: ā€œEY US has terminated individuals who, after thorough investigation, were found to have violated our Global Code of Conduct and US Learning Policy.ā€

In 2022 EY had to pay $100m to the SEC after employees were found to have cheated on ethics exams required to maintain their practicing licences. EY was also accused of withholding evidence in the investigation.