Labor officials visit Foxconn factory, question executives about hiring
Indian labor officials visited a Foxconn factory in the country’s south this week and questioned executives about the company’s hiring practices, an official said, after Reuters reported that Apple’s major supplier has turned down married women for jobs as iPhone assembly workers.
A five-member team from the federal government’s regional labour department visited the Foxconn factory near Chennai in Tamil Nadu state on July 1 and spoke to company executives and human resources officials, A. Narasaiah, the regional labour commissioner, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday.
Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Apple did not respond to questions from Reuters about the visit.
The investigations come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government last week asked state officials and the federal government’s regional labour commissioner’s office for detailed reports on the matter, following a Reuters investigation into hiring practices at the manufacturing facility.
“We are gathering information and have asked the company to submit documents such as company policies, recruitment policies” and evidence of compliance with labor laws and information about maternity and retirement benefits, Narasaiah said. “They told us they do not discriminate.”
Narasaiah said Foxconn told labor officials the factory employs 41,281 people, including 33,360 women. Of those women, about 2,750, or about 8 percent, were married, he said, citing Foxconn’s submission.
Foxconn did not break out its workforce figures into specific areas such as iPhone assembly, where Reuters reported discrimination, Narasaiah said. He added that labor inspectors interviewed 40 married women at the factory, who raised no concerns about discrimination.
Narasaiah said he has no current plans to survey Foxconn’s external recruiters, who scout candidates and invite them for interviews.
A Reuters investigation published last week found that Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from assembly jobs at its main Indian iPhone factory because they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried colleagues. Foxconn HR sources and outside recruiters cited family commitments, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women.
The report also found that Taiwan-based Foxconn is relaxing its rule of not hiring married women during high-production periods.
The story sparked debates on television channels, editorials in newspapers and calls from opposition figures and women’s organisations, including within Prime Minister Modi’s party, for an investigation into the matter.
In response to Reuters’ investigation, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged shortcomings in their hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues. However, all of the discriminatory practices Reuters documented at the Tamil Nadu factory occurred in 2023 and 2024. The companies have not addressed those instances.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, has previously said it “strongly denies allegations of discrimination in the workplace based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form.”
Apple has said that all of its suppliers, including Foxconn, hire married women and that all of its suppliers, including Foxconn, hire married women. “When concerns about our hiring practices first arose in 2022, we took immediate action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure our high standards were being maintained.”
Indian law does not prohibit companies from discriminating on the basis of marital status in hiring decisions. However, Apple and Foxconn’s policies prohibit such practices in their supply chains.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
