EXCLUSIVE: Ernst & Young sort out their act in Canada

Sources close to events (as they say) tell me that Ernst & Young Canada has taken fright at the attitude being displayed by the judges in the KPMG case. In response, they have decided to pay their non-CA employees/trainees for overtime, including back pay.

My sources also tell me that in true modern fashion, EY didn’t send round a memo or a personalised letter but left a voicemail for those employees about to benefit from EY’s largesse. It is also understood that EY plans to send out a press release later in the week, proclaiming to the world how great they are in taking this pre-emptive step. My guess is it is an attempt to head off any potential legal action that employees might take in the wake of what’s happened over at KPMG.

This now leaves open the question as to whether PWC and DT will follow suit in giving to their employees what the Canadian courts have strongly indicated they consider is rightfully their due.

This is not going to please the partners who are manfully trying to shore up their profits while at the same time sending out redundancy notices to employees.

For details of how the law works in Ontario but which is indicative of the law generally across Canada, it’s worth checking on this article.