The Indian authorities has sought an in depth report from Tamil Nadu state following media experiences that Apple provider Foxconn was allegedly rejecting married girls for iPhone meeting jobs.
A Reuters investigation alleged that Foxconn had excluded married girls from jobs at its important India iPhone plant close to Chennai, citing their larger household obligations in comparison with single girls.
The federal labour ministry says the regulation “clearly stipulates that no discrimination [is] to be made whereas recruiting women and men staff”.
Foxconn stated in an announcement 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 facility 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 12 months, Foxconn tied up with Google to make Pixel smartphones in Tamil Nadu.
The corporate stated it doesn’t stand for discrimination in hiring or recruitment.
In a latest spherical of recruitment, 25% of girls employed had been married, in line with the corporate.
It did acknowledge that 20 job advertisements posted by hiring businesses had been eliminated in 2022 as a result of they “didn’t meet our requirements”.
The discriminatory practices detailed within the Reuters investigation allegedly came about in 2023 and 2024.
“After we see a problem we act, together with corrective motion as much as and together with termination of the hiring company,” Foxconn added.
Rights activists say the experiences in regards to the agency’s hiring practices in India are regarding, provided that hundreds look to its factories for employment alternatives.
Reuters stated it spoke to quite a few staff and Foxconn hiring businesses for the story.
The report stated that hiring brokers and Foxconn HR sources “cited household duties, being pregnant and better absenteeism as explanation why Foxconn didn’t rent married girls 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 staff at its manufacturing facility in China that manufactured merchandise for Amazon.
In 2022, its iPhone manufacturing facility in China noticed protests by staff who claimed that that they had not been paid sure dues.
