Chennai: National Human Rights Commission ( NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of media reports that Foxconn, a major manufacturer of Apple devices, is excluding married women from jobs at its assembly plant at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

“If the matter is true, it raises a serious issue of discrimination against married women causing the violation of the right to equality and equal opportunity,” said NHRC.

In the notices issued on July 1 to the Secretary, the Labour Ministry, and the Chief Secretary of the Tamil Nadu government, NHRC sought a detailed report within one week.

What does the media report say?

As per the media reports, carried on June 26, 2024, several job seekers in the company were spoken to during the period January 2023 to May 2024 and the candidate information pamphlet of the company was examined. It was revealed that only unmarried women were eligible for assembly jobs while there was no mention in this regard in the advertisements made by the company.

According to the NHRC press statement, a WhatsApp chat between a married candidate and the hiring agency of the company was also quoted in the news report stating that when the candidate asked about the salary and childcare facility offered by the company, the response was ‘married not allowed’. The company, reportedly, refuted the allegations of discrimination in employment based on marital status, gender, religion, or any other form.

The Commission has noted the fact that gender equality is not only required in the Indian Constitution but the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights also provides non-discrimination on the ground of gender in any form of employment. NHRC maintained that the state authorities must ensure that all companies follow the norms and regulations relating to labor laws and the right to health and dignity to any individual, including women, who are working in the supply chain of any production unit of the private sector.

25% of its new hires are married women, says Foxconn

On the other side, Foxconn in its earlier statement has informed the government that 25 percent of its new hires are married women and its safety protocol, which requires all employees to avoid wearing metal irrespective of gender or religion, is not discriminatory.

In an informal note shared with the government after reports suggested it is not hiring married women, Foxconn stated that such stipulations are not part of its policy and these claims may have been made by those individuals who were not hired, sources said. They added that such media reports malign the fast-growing Indian manufacturing sector.

Foxconn factory currently has about 70 percent women and 30 percent men and the Tamil Nadu plant is the largest factory for women employment in the country with the total employment having touched 45,000 workers during peak periods.

The company has also informed that the discussion around Hindu married women being discriminated against for wearing metals (ornaments and jewelry) is “entirely slanted” and wearing metal in such factories is a safety issue, a fact well recognized by both the industry and the government. “Any person wearing metals – man or woman – regardless of their status (single or married) and their religion (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, etc.) are required to remove metals while working in the factory,” the source said quoting the company’s informal note.

For safety reasons, no one wearing metal is allowed to work on the shop floor and this is a prevalent practice in several industries.

Comments from those who did not get jobs.

According to sources, the company has stated that the media report is based on anecdotal comments by 5-10 people or potential job seekers. These comments likely came from candidates who did not get the job or no longer work at Foxconn.

When contacted on the issue, Foxconn said that they hire workers of all backgrounds, genders, races, and marital status, and they do not discriminate in hiring or recruitment.

“We enhanced our management process for hiring agencies in India in 2022 and identified four agencies that were posting ads that did not meet our standards. We took corrective action with those agencies and more than 20 job ads were removed,” Foxconn said in a statement.

Studying the staff recruitment process

Employee unions at the Apple iPhone manufacturing unit of Foxconn India here said they are engaged in the collection of details of the recruitment exercise after media reports emerged that married women were not hired by the Taiwan-based firm. According to employee trade union sources, they would decide on the next course of action after studying the staff recruitment process.

“We are collecting the details right now. We will study the matter first, like, recruitment exercise, and then decide our next action plan,” a union source told earlier.

Inputs from PTI