No, I am in Dublin: PwC worker remotely works from India; lies when confronted, accuses boss of bullying

Jasch Asher, a PwC worker who started working for the firm’s Dublin office in 2022, secretly left the country in 2024 without informing his employers and continued working remotely until Asher was called to the office for a performance improvement plan meeting. The meeting was scheduled in November 2024 and Asher turned down the meeting, telling his supervisor that he was not in the office.According to his contract, Asher was supposed to work in Ireland with an office attendance of a minimum 2-3 days per week.After he canceled the meeting, Asher’s supervisor was under the impression that since he lived five or 10 minutes’ walk from the office, he would be able to attend the meeting later in the day.Asher said he had a cold and could not come into the office.The supervisor asked him if he had been in the office earlier that week, he said he was and then he proceeded to make serious allegations against the supervisor and accused him of bullying him.The supervisor went to the HR office and informed them that he had not actually seen Asher in the office for some time. HR cross-examined Asher’s internet traffic and discovered that he had been working from India since September 30, 2024.According to the Irish Times report, PwC’s remote work policy allowed for a maximum period of 30 days working from overseas which Asher had already used up.The HR had a conference call with Asher, where Asher denied being in India and insisted that he was working from his home in Dublin. The supervisor who was also present in the call asked him to come to the office the next day. But Asher said he won’t,Later that month, Asher finally gave in and admitted that he had been working from India for some time and he could not come back to Dublin because his landlord was in the process of selling the accommodation and also he did not want to work with the supervisor.As Asher was fired, he moved the Workplace Relations Commission against his dismissal and basically said he had his supervisor’s permission to work from India but still he was fired. The WRC adjudicator trashed Asher’s challenge as Asher who represented himself at the hearing, told the commission that he did not mention that he was in India to his employer. He told the commission that he had gone back to India for family reasons.