Indian labour officers visited a Foxconn manufacturing unit within the nation’s south this week and questioned executives in regards to the firm’s hiring practices, an official mentioned, after Reuters reported that the key Apple provider has been rejecting married ladies from iPhone meeting jobs.

A five-member staff of the federal authorities’s regional labour division visited the Foxconn manufacturing unit close to Chennai, in Tamil Nadu state, on July 1 and spoke to firm administrators and human sources officers, A. Narasaiah, the regional labour commissioner, instructed Reuters by phone on Wednesday.

Foxconn didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, whereas Apple didn’t tackle questions from Reuters in regards to the go to.

The inquiries come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s authorities requested state officers and the workplace of the federal authorities’s Regional Chief Labour Commissioner final week to offer detailed experiences on the matter, following Reuters’ investigation into hiring practices on the manufacturing facility.

“We’re gathering data, and have requested the corporate to submit paperwork like firm insurance policies, recruitment insurance policies” in addition to proof of compliance with labour legal guidelines and knowledge on maternity and retirement advantages, Narasaiah mentioned. “They instructed us they aren’t discriminating.”

Narasaiah mentioned Foxconn instructed the labour officers the manufacturing unit employs 41,281 individuals, together with 33,360 ladies. Of those ladies, some 2,750, or about 8%, have been married, he mentioned, citing Foxconn’s submission.

Foxconn didn’t break down the staffing figures into particular areas comparable to iPhone meeting, the place Reuters reported the discrimination was going down, Narasaiah mentioned. He added that the labour inspectors interviewed 40 married ladies contained in the plant, who raised no considerations about discrimination.

Narasaiah mentioned he at present has no plan to query Foxconn’s third-party hiring brokers, who scout for candidates and convey them to the plant for interviews.

A Reuters investigation printed final week discovered Foxconn systematically excluded married ladies from meeting jobs at its primary Indian iPhone plant on the grounds they’ve extra household obligations than their single counterparts. Foxconn HR sources and third-party hiring brokers cited household duties, being pregnant and better absenteeism as causes for not hiring married ladies.

The reporting additionally discovered that Taiwan-based Foxconn relaxes the observe of not hiring married ladies throughout high-production durations.

The story has sparked debates on TV channels, newspaper editorials, and calls from opposition figures and ladies’s teams, together with inside PM Modi’s celebration, to research the matter.

Responding to the Reuters investigation, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and mentioned they’d labored to handle the problems. All of the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters on the Tamil Nadu plant, nevertheless, passed off in 2023 and 2024. The businesses didn’t tackle these situations.

Foxconn, also referred to as Hon Hai Precision Trade, has beforehand mentioned it “vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based mostly on marital standing, gender, faith or some other kind.”

Apple has mentioned all its suppliers, together with Foxconn, rent married ladies and all its suppliers, together with Foxconn, rent married ladies and “when considerations about hiring practices have been first raised in 2022 we instantly took motion and labored with our provider to conduct month-to-month audits to establish points and make sure that our excessive requirements are upheld.”

Indian regulation doesn’t bar firms from discriminating in hiring based mostly on marital standing, although Apple’s and Foxconn’s insurance policies prohibit such practices of their provide chains.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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