The Indian authorities has sought an in depth report from Tamil Nadu state following media reviews that Apple provider Foxconn was allegedly rejecting married ladies for iPhone meeting jobs.
A Reuters investigation alleged that Foxconn had excluded married ladies from jobs at its primary India iPhone plant close to Chennai, citing their better household obligations in comparison with single ladies.
The federal labour ministry says the regulation “clearly stipulates that no discrimination [is] to be made whereas recruiting women and men employees”.
Foxconn mentioned in a press release it “vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination primarily based on marital standing”.
Neither Apple nor the Tamil Nadu state authorities responded to requests for remark from Reuters.
The BBC has additionally reached out to the Tamil Nadu labour division for a response.
Foxconn, the biggest provider of Apple iPhones, arrange its first manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu in 2017 however has since been aggressively increasing its operations in India.
In 2023, it started assembling the iPhone 15 within the state and earlier this yr, Foxconn tied up with Google to make Pixel smartphones in Tamil Nadu.
The corporate mentioned it doesn’t stand for discrimination in hiring or recruitment.
In a latest spherical of recruitment, 25% of ladies employed had been married, in accordance with the corporate.
It did acknowledge that 20 job advertisements posted by hiring companies had been eliminated in 2022 as a result of they “didn’t meet our requirements”.
The discriminatory practices detailed within the Reuters investigation allegedly befell in 2023 and 2024.
“After we see a difficulty we act, together with corrective motion as much as and together with termination of the hiring company,” Foxconn added.
Rights activists say the reviews concerning the agency’s hiring practices in India are regarding, provided that 1000’s look to its factories for employment alternatives.
Reuters mentioned it spoke to quite a few workers and Foxconn hiring companies for the story.
The report mentioned that hiring brokers and Foxconn HR sources “cited household duties, being pregnant and better absenteeism as the explanation why Foxconn didn’t rent married ladies on the plant”.
This isn’t the primary time the agency has come underneath scrutiny for its labour practices.
In 2018, a US-based rights group had accused the agency of overworking and underpaying short-term employees at its manufacturing unit in China that manufactured merchandise for Amazon.
In 2022, its iPhone manufacturing unit in China noticed protests by employees who claimed that they’d not been paid sure dues.
