The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in June ordered federal and Tamil Nadu state authorities to probe Foxconn’s recruitment practices after a Reuters investigation found the manufacturer excluded married women from iPhone assembly jobs at its southern India plant. Kept outside. Reuters found that Foxconn relaxed restrictions during high production periods.
The iPhone factory is a major foreign investment in India, key to Apple and Foxconn’s plans to expand manufacturing in the country, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of rivaling China in electronics production.
Indian labor officials visited the Foxconn plant in July and questioned executives about employment practices, but did not make their findings public.
Reuters this month reviewed NHRC case files related to the investigation after the news agency sought the records under India’s Right to Information laws. Details have not been previously reported.
An undated NHRC status of case document shows that Tamil Nadu labor officials told the commission on July 5 that 6.7% of the 33,360 women working at the Foxconn plant were married, without specifying whether they were on the assembly line or No. He said the women employed at the factory came from six districts, “which makes it clear that the company has hired a large number of women employees without any discrimination.”
According to the document, federal investigators told the commission that they interviewed 21 married women at the factory who said they faced no discrimination on pay and promotions.
In response, the NHRC told labor officials in November that they appeared not to have investigated Foxconn’s appointment documents, nor addressed the core issue of discrimination against married women in recruitment. According to details of the case, the officers relied on the testimony of current employees and “filed their reports in a routine/casual manner.”
“The presence of a certain number of women employees at present does not answer the question of whether the company actually discriminated against married women at the time of recruitment,” the NHRC said. I am silent in this regard.”
“The Commission has no hesitation in saying that the authorities concerned have failed to recognize and understand the core issue.”
Neither state nor federal labor departments responded to Reuters requests for comment about the NHRC’s assessment. Calling for an investigation in June, the Modi government said India’s Equal Remuneration Act says there should be no discrimination in the hiring of men and women.
Apple and Foxconn also did not respond to questions about the correspondence. Both companies had earlier said that Foxconn hires married women in India.
NHRC is a statutory body with powers similar to a civil court. It can investigate human rights violations, summon authorities and recommend remedial action, including payment of compensation.
Last year, the watchdog asked India’s federal labor department to look into reports of harsh working conditions at an Amazon warehouse near New Delhi. Amazon later said it investigated and took remedial action.
In the Foxconn case, NHRC files show that the agency expressed its dissatisfaction to government officials on November 19, and ordered them to re-examine the matter by conducting a “thorough investigation” within four weeks.
The NHRC, in its response to Reuters on January 10, said it could not provide further information because the case was ongoing.
The Reuters investigation into Foxconn’s recruiting practices was based on interviews with current and former executives, recruitment agents and job candidates, and a review of job advertisements circulated by recruitment vendors helping recruit smartphone assembly workers in India.
Several ads posted between January 2023 and May 2024 stated that only unmarried women of specified ages were eligible for smartphone assembly roles, a violation of Apple and Foxconn’s anti-discrimination policies.
Reuters reported in November that Foxconn had ordered recruiters to remove age, gender and marital criteria from job advertisements.
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