The Indian government has requested a detailed report from the Tamil Nadu state following media allegations that Apple supplier Foxconn was rejecting married women for iPhone assembly positions.
According to a Reuters investigation, Foxconn purportedly excluded married women from jobs at its main iPhone manufacturing plant in India near Chennai, citing their perceived greater family responsibilities compared to unmarried women.
The federal labor ministry emphasized that the law “clearly stipulates that no discrimination is to be made while recruiting men and women workers.”
Neither Apple nor the Tamil Nadu state government responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The BBC has also sought responses from Foxconn and the Tamil Nadu labor department regarding these allegations.
Foxconn, the primary supplier of Apple iPhones, established its initial factory in Tamil Nadu in 2017 and has since expanded its operations aggressively in India. In 2023, production of the iPhone 15 began in the state, and earlier this year, Foxconn partnered with Google to manufacture Pixel smartphones in Tamil Nadu.
Rights activists have expressed concern over the reports about the company’s hiring practices in India, given that thousands seek employment opportunities at its factories.
According to Reuters, the investigation involved interviews with numerous employees and Foxconn hiring agencies. The report indicated that hiring agents and Foxconn human resources sources cited family responsibilities, pregnancy, and higher absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women at the plant.
This is not the first time Foxconn has faced scrutiny over its labor practices. In 2018, a US-based rights group accused the company of overworking and underpaying temporary workers at its factory in China, which produced goods for Amazon. In 2022, protests erupted among workers at its iPhone factory in China, alleging non-payment of certain entitlements.