Foxconn was criticized by the NHRC for discriminating against "working from married women"; New investigation will began

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has severely condemned the continuing discrimination cases of married women regarding work at Apple's major manufacturer Foxconn. It also scolded labor officials for not investigating the issue and ordered a fresh and full investigation into the cases within four weeks.

The investigation document revealed that Foxconn had kept married women away from iPhone assembly work at its Tamil Nadu plant. But, by relaxing the restrictions during the high production period, these married women were made to do the assembly work. After this, in June 2024, the NHRC ordered the labor officials of the Central and Tamil Nadu governments to investigate these practices of Foxconn. Labor officials had visited the Foxconn plant in July for an investigation but did not make the investigation findings public. The Ministry of Labour and Employment had also sought a detailed report on the matter from the Tamil Nadu Labour Department.

The NHRC also took cognizance of the allegation that the company does not hire married women because of cultural issues and social pressure. The NHRC's action comes after media reports emerged that job seekers in the company were contacted between January 2023 and May this year. They revealed that only unmarried women are eligible for jobs on the company's assembly line while there was no mention of any such policy in advertisements issued by the company.

Labor officials in Tamil Nadu had, on July 5, informed the NHRC that out of the 33,360 women working at the plant, 6.7% were married. However, they had not made it clear if they were on the production line or not. The NHRC pulls them up for not properly verifying the recruitment documents of Foxconn or practicing discrimination against married women.