In view of a media report claiming that married woman are not being allowed to work at Fozconn India Apple iPhone plant, the Ministry of Labour and Employment on Wednesday stated in its official statement that it sought a detailed report from the Tamil Nadu Governemnt’s Labour department in the matter.
The development comes after a report in news agency Reuters revealed that Apple supplier Foxconn rejected married women from iPhone assembly jobs in Tamil Nadu.
“Section 5 of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 clearly stipulates that no discrimination is to be made while recruiting men and women workers,” the union labour ministry said in its statement.
As the State government is the appropriate authority for the enforcement and administration of the provisions of this Act, the report has been sought from it,” it further stated.
The official statement also stated that the ministry has also directed the office of Regional Chief Labour Commissioner to furnish the report to the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India.
“The labour and employment ministry takes note of media reports on married women not being allowed to work at Foxconn India Apple iPhone Plant in Tamil Nadu,” it noted.
Neither Apple nor Foxconn responded immediately to the request for comment on the statement of the Centre.
As per media reports, the Tamil Nadu governmnet also did not respond immediately to the request for comment by news agency Reuters.
‘More Family Responsibility Than Unmarried Counterparts’
Reuters, on Tuesday, published a report that said Foxconn had excluded married women from jobs at the company’s main India iPhone plant in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai.
The investigation carried out by the news agency revealed that this systematic exclusion was done on the grounds that married women have more family responsibilities to handle as compared to their unmarried counterparts.
Foxconn’s hiring agents and HRs told Reuters that the company avoided hiring married women as they often cited family duties and pregenancy for being absent from work.
Responding to this, Apple and Foxconn had both aknowledged that there were loopholes in their 2022 hiring practices, and that they were working towards addressing them.
However, the dicrimination in hiring, mentioned in the report, ocurred in 2023 and 2024, which the companies did not address.
