India looking into allegation Foxconn denied married women jobs at iPhone factory

India’s federal government has sought a “detailed report” from the southern state of Tamil Nadu after a news report said that Apple supplier Foxconn allegedly rejected married women from iPhone assembly jobs.

A Reuters investigation alleged workplace bias against married women at Foxconn’s iPhone plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. It said the company systematically excluded married women from jobs because it claimed they would have greater family responsibilities as compared to unmarried women.

Pregnancy and higher absenteeism were also cited as reasons, Foxconn hiring agents and HR sources reportedly told the news agency.

The federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has taken “note of media reports on married women not being allowed to work at Foxconn India Apple iPhone plant”.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry pointed out that the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976 “clearly stipulates that no discrimination be made while recruiting men and women workers”.

In a response to Reuters, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and claimed that they had addressed the issue.

The companies did not address similar cases from 2023 and 2024 documented in the investigative report, for which Reuters spoke with 17 employees from over a dozen Foxconn hiring agencies in India as well as four former and current human resources executives.

In a statement to The Independent, Foxconn said that almost 25 per cent of married women were recruited in its latest round of hiring.

“Foxconn’s first priority is the wellbeing of our employees around the world. We hire workers of all backgrounds, genders, races and marital status, and we do not stand for discrimination in hiring or recruitment,” it said.

“Foxconn vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form.”

The company also said that married women were welcome to wear traditional metal ornaments while working in its plants.

Foxconn is the largest supplier of Apple phones. The company set up its first plant in Tamil Nadu in 2017 and has since entered into an agreement with Google to make Pixel phones.

In 2018, the company was accused by an American rights group of underpaying temporary workers and making them overwork at its factory in China.

In 2021, Apple put Foxconn on “probation” after workers at the factory, which employs nearly 17,000 people, staged protests against poor living conditions that had led to several cases of food poisoning.

The Independent has reached out to Apple for comment.