Return to office pushes EY workplace complaints higher

The accounting and advisory giant has recorded a 64 per cent rise in misconduct and disciplinary complaints, new figures show.

EY has recorded a 64 per cent jump in misconduct and disciplinary complaints. Picture: James Gourley

EY staff returning to the office after the pandemic has triggered a jump in misconduct investigations and bullying complaints, figures released by the professional services firm show.

A culture and sustainability scorecard released by EY on Tuesday shows 17 formal workplace investigations in the 2022 financial year, of which 13 were substantiated.

All five of the sexual harassment complaints lodged with EY were substantiated in the period.

Another four bullying investigations were substantiated, but two were not proven and one continues to be under investigation. A further four cases, involving bullying, harassment and sexual harassment, were substantiated by EY’s ethics oversight group.

There were 12 investigations in the 2021 financial year, of which three were substantiated.

EY said it received 64 misconduct and disciplinary complaints in 2022. These related to one incident of assault, a theft, seven breach of values cases, as well as 55 breaches of EY policy.

This was up on the 39 misconduct and disciplinary complaints reported to EY in 2021.

EY Oceania chief executive David Larocca said he hoped the numbers reflected the willingness of people to come forward to report issues. “People are feeling more comfortable coming forward because of the investment we’ve made in the training awareness and seriousness we’re taking this,” he said on Tuesday.

The scorecard comes after EY’s work culture faced scrutiny after the firm commissioned a review in the wake of the death of an audit staff member.

EY has brought in former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick to run a review of work practices. This is on top of two other reviews run by EY looking at what structures the firm has in place to support the mental health and wellbeing of staff and their safety in the workplace.

Jono Nicholas, EY’s mental health adviser and a former chief executive of ReachOut Australia , is leading those reviews.

Mr Larocca said while the scorecard did not capture any incidents which may have been highlighted by recent reviews, the firm was committed to releasing the findings. “I’m not going to try to predict what comes out of the review,” he said.

EY’s data also showed more than one in five staff at the professional services firm left in the last year, in a lift on levels recorded in 2021. The firm, which employs 10,176 staff across the region, noted 22 per cent of staff left EY in 2022. This was up on 19 per cent of staff in the period.

Mr Larocca said the turnover figures were “higher than we’d like” but said EY was now seeing turnover stabilise. “There’s been a range of factors (driving the turnover),” he told The Australian in an interview on Tuesday. “People have revisited priorities in life and taken stock of things and taken a career change.”

EY grew its headcount in the period, up from 8775 in 2021. The firm hired 4792 new staff in 2022.