After Pune EY death, did Lucknow HDFC employee die because of work pressure?

The untimely death of a 26-year-old woman at Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune has shed light on the missing work-life balance in India.

On Tuesday, a similar case made headlines in Lucknow.

A woman at a prominent bank reportedly fell off her chair in the office and died under suspicious circumstances while working.

Here’s all we know.

Lucknow employee dies at work

The woman, identified as Sadaf Fatima, was working with HDFC Bank as Additional Deputy Vice President.

The 45-year-old was a resident of Wazirganj, according to TV9 Hindi.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon (September 24) when Fatima fell off her chair while working in Gomtinagar’s Vibuti Khand branch office, as per News18.

She was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared dead upon arrival.

Her body was later sent for a post-mortem, according to the report.

According to a police official, the initial investigation suggests the cause of death was a heart attack. Though no complaint from the family has been received yet, officials have recorded their statements.

While her colleagues allege work pressure, Fatima’s brother-in-law, as per TV9, informed the police that she had blood pressure, due to which her health had deteriorated three days ago. She was on three-day sick leave after she received treatment at King George’s Medical University (KGMC) in Lucknow. She resumed work on Tuesday.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Fatima had been working with HDFC Bank since June last year. She was an alumnus of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University.

Akhilesh Yadav criticises BJP government

In a Hindi post on X, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav called the tragic death “concerning,” and that it is “a symbol of the current economic pressure in the country.”

“All companies and government departments will have to think seriously in this regard. This is an irreparable loss of the country’s human resources. Such sudden deaths bring the working conditions under question. The real measure of the progress of any country is not the increase in the figures of services or products but how mentally free, healthy and happy a person is. Due to the failed economic policies of the BJP government, the business of companies has reduced so much that to save their business, they make fewer people do many times more work,” according to a rough translation of Yadav’s post.

Taking a dig at
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent suggestion that the youth under work pressure need lessons on stress ‘management,’ he said, “Instead of improving the working conditions, the BJP minister, who is lecturing the youth of the country to develop the strength to withstand pressure, is further distressing the youth in this environment of grief, and is requested that if her government cannot provide any solace, cannot bring about any improvement, then it should not do so, but should not increase public anger with its heartless and insensitive advice in the context of this incident.”

He concluded, “To overcome this problem, companies and government departments should make active and meaningful efforts for “immediate improvement.”

EY employee’s death due to work pressure

In July this year, a 26-year-old female chartered accountant, identified as
Anna Sebastian Perayil, passed away due to work stress, merely four months after joining SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Maharashtra’s Pune.

Following her death, her mother, Anita Augustine, wrote to EY India Chairperson Rajiv Memani in September, alleging that the workload and extended working hours took a toll on her daughter. She further called on the company to change the work culture that “seems to glorify overwork while neglecting the very human being behind the role.”

The firm, however, denied the allegations.

After the letter caused uproar on social media, Union Minister for Labour Mansukh Mandaviya said Perayil’s case is being probed.

How toxic work culture can be fatal

People working more than 54 hours per week are more prone to die from overwork, according to a 2021 study published in Environment International.

It said that ischaemic heart disease and stroke kill three-quarters of a million people each year due to extended working hours. Also known as coronary heart disease, the condition is caused by narrowed heart arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle.

Moreover, overwork can adversely affect health in two ways: chronic stress and unhealthy behaviours. The high levels of stress can increase the risk of heart attacks and heart failure, mostly in young people, as per Time magazine that quoted Dr Alan Yeung, the medical director at Stanford Cardiovascular Health.

Dr Yeung said that heart failure due to stress becomes fatal only when combined with other factors, such as chronic stress, a sudden stressful situation and a likely underlying heart condition.

A social problem in India

In India, overwork is glorified.

According to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 2024 data, the average working hours in India is 46 hours a week, adding the nation to the list of top countries with the longest average working hours. Only Bhutan, Lebanon, Lesotho, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Pakistan are above India.

The ILO’s Global Wage Report 2020-21: Wages and Minimum Wages in the Time of COVID-19 report says the South Asian country also has the lowest minimum wage globally, except for some sub-Saharan African countries.

Last January, the Delhi High Court observed toxic work culture is a social problem and there is a need for government, labour unions, corporates, and health officials to formulate policies.