Ernst & Young (EY), one of the Big Four accounting firms, has recently made headlines after dismissing several U.S. staff members who attended two online training sessions simultaneously. The employees, who were participating in the company’s Ignite Learning Week, claim they were multitasking to take full advantage of the offered sessions. However, EY’s management viewed this behavior as a violation of their code of conduct, leading to a wave of firings. The situation has sparked debate over the severity of the punishment and raised questions about corporate training cultures and policies.
The staff members were participating in mandatory professional development courses this spring as part of EY’s Ignite Learning Week. Employees are required to complete a certain number of hours in professional development to maintain their skills and compliance with industry standards. However, some staff members opted to attend two training sessions at the same time, using video conferencing software to be present in both.
While the employees claim their intentions were harmless—simply an effort to avoid missing out on overlapping content—EY saw it differently. The firm deemed the behavior a violation of its global code of conduct and U.S. learning policy. According to EY, the integrity and ethics that form the foundation of the firm’s values were compromised by the actions of these employees.
EY’s Response and the History of Training Issues
In a statement to the Financial Times, EY defended its decision, emphasizing that the affected employees had broken the company’s rules. “Our core values of integrity and ethics are at the forefront of everything we do,” the statement read. “Appropriate disciplinary action was recently taken in a small number of cases where individuals were found to be in violation of our global code of conduct and U.S. learning policy.”
This move might seem harsh to some, particularly since employees claimed the company had not explicitly stated that attending two sessions at once was prohibited. In fact, the fired staffers argued that EY encouraged a culture of multitasking, making their actions part of an attempt to balance the demands of their workload with professional development.
However, EY’s actions should be seen in the context of the firm’s previous run-ins with training and compliance issues. In 2022, the company was fined $100 million by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after it was discovered that employees had cheated on ethics exams required to obtain or maintain certified public accountant (CPA) licenses. The firm was also accused of withholding evidence during the SEC’s investigation, further damaging its reputation for ethical behavior.
The hefty fine was the largest ever levied by the SEC against an auditing firm. In response, EY committed to hiring two independent consultants to address internal issues related to ethics and transparency. The firm has since reportedly updated its guidelines to ensure future Ignite Learning Weeks allow employees to attend only one class at a time, perhaps as a direct response to these recent firings.
Double-Dipping and Corporate Policy Enforcement
EY’s crackdown on employees attending multiple sessions during training week is not an isolated incident when it comes to large corporations enforcing internal policy regulations. Other companies have faced similar challenges when employees misuse benefits or try to work around corporate guidelines.
Meta, for example, recently fired several staff members for abusing the company’s meal credit policy. According to reports, Meta employees received a $25 Grubhub credit if they worked late in offices without on-site cafeterias. However, some employees were found to be misusing the credit by ordering food while not working late or even when they were not in the office at all. Others gave their credits to colleagues or used them to purchase groceries and household items instead of meals.
On the anonymous tech industry platform Blind, one Meta employee described spending the meal credit on items such as toothpaste and tea from a pharmacy, explaining that since they had already made dinner plans, they didn’t want to waste the company’s perk. This incident, like EY’s, shows how companies are increasingly clamping down on policy violations, particularly when benefits and internal systems are being misused.
The firings at EY have sparked conversations about how corporate policies are communicated and enforced, especially when it comes to workplace training. While it’s easy to argue that EY’s response was too harsh, the firm’s history of compliance issues adds a layer of complexity. The company is under pressure to maintain its ethical standards, particularly after its $100 million fine for cheating on ethics exams.
Additionally, companies like EY and Meta are setting examples for how they handle internal policy violations, even when the infractions might seem minor. Both instances highlight the delicate balance companies must strike between encouraging employee engagement and enforcing strict adherence to rules.
In the case of EY, it appears that the decision to fire employees was not just about the immediate issue of attending two training sessions simultaneously. Instead, it was part of a broader effort to ensure that ethical standards and professional integrity are upheld across the firm.
The firing of EY staff members for attending two training sessions at once raises important questions about corporate culture, multitasking, and the consequences of violating internal policies. While the employees claim they were trying to take full advantage of the training content, EY’s firm stance reflects the company’s ongoing efforts to clean up its image following past scandals. As companies like EY and Meta continue to tighten their policies, it serves as a reminder that even seemingly minor violations can have major consequences when it comes to ethics and compliance in the corporate world.
