It’s Reuters

By Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s human rights watchdog has warned labor officials for failing to adequately investigate evidence of job discrimination. Foxconn (SS:), which makes Apple (NASDAQ:) iPhones, and told them to reconsider the matter, the documents show.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in June ordered state and Tamil Nadu officials to investigate Foxconn’s hiring practices, after a Reuters investigation found the manufacturer excluded married women from its workforce. iPhone assembly at its south Indian factory. Foxconn eased restrictions during peak production periods, Reuters has found.

The iPhone factory is a prominent 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 aim to compete with China in electronics manufacturing.

Indian labor officials visited a Foxconn factory in July and questioned management about hiring 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. The data has not been reported before.

An unclassified NHRC status document shows Tamil Nadu labor officials told the commission on July 5 that 6.7% of the 33,360 women who work at the Foxconn factory are married, without specifying whether they are. of the assembly. They say that the women employed by the company come from six districts, “that makes it clear that a large number of female workers are employed by the company … without any discrimination.

Federal investigators told the commission to interview 21 married women at the factory, who said they faced discrimination in wages and promotions, according to the document.

In response, the NHRC told labor officials in November that they did not appear to have reviewed Foxconn’s hiring documents, nor did they address the underlying issue of discrimination against married women in hiring. Officials relied on the testimony of current employees and “entered their reports in a regular/irregular manner,” according to the case details.

“The presence of (a) certain number of female employees at present does not answer the question (of) whether the company was actually discriminating against married women at the time of hiring,” said the NHRC, noting that labor officers “clearly discriminated against married women. keep quiet on this matter.”

“The Commission does not hesitate to say that the relevant authorities have failed to know and understand the basic issue.”

Neither state nor federal departments responded to Reuters’ requests for comment on the NHRC review. In calling for an inquiry in June, the Modi government said India’s Equal Pay Act states that there should be no discrimination in employment between men and women.

Apple and Foxconn also did not respond to questions about the letters. Both companies have previously said that Foxconn hires married women in India.

The NHRC is a statutory body with the same powers as a local court. It can investigate human rights violations, summon officials and recommend corrective measures, including compensation.

Last year, a watchdog asked India’s government labor department to look into reports of harsh working conditions at an Amazon (NASDAQ: ) warehouse near New Delhi. Amazon later said it had investigated and taken corrective action.

In the case of Foxconn, NHRC files show that the company conveyed its dissatisfaction to government officials in Nov. 19, and orders them to re-examine the matter by conducting “full investigations” within four weeks.

The NHRC in its January 10 response to Reuters said it would not provide further details while the case is ongoing.

A Reuters investigation into Foxconn’s hiring practices was based on interviews with current and former managers, recruitment agents and job seekers, and a review of job advertisements posted by suppliers. recruiters who help to recruit smartphone assembly workers in India.

A number of advertisements published between January 2023 and May 2024 stated that only single women of a certain age were eligible for smartphone assembly roles, in violation of Apple and Foxconn’s policies against discrimination.

Reuters reported in November that Foxconn ordered employers to remove age, gender and marital status from job ads.