The Indian authorities has sought an in depth report from Tamil Nadu state following media stories 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 important India iPhone plant close to Chennai, citing their higher 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”.
Neither Apple nor the Tamil Nadu state authorities responded to requests for remark from Reuters.
The BBC has additionally reached out to Foxconn and the Tamil Nadu labour division for a response.
Foxconn, the most important 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 12 months, Foxconn tied up with Google to make Pixel smartphones in Tamil Nadu.
Rights activists say the stories concerning the agency’s hiring practices in India are regarding, on condition that 1000’s look to its factories for employment alternatives.
Reuters stated it spoke to quite a few workers 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 the reason why Foxconn didn’t rent married ladies on the plant”.
This is not the primary time the agency has come below the scanner 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.