Foxconn Accused of Systematically Excluding Married Women in iPhone Assembly

TapTechNews July 4th news, according to Reuters, the Indian labor regulatory authority received public reports claiming that Apple supplier Foxconn systematically excluded married women in iPhone assembly work and set up a 5-person team to visit and investigate the Foxconn factory near Chennai on July 1st.

TapTechNews cited this source, the 5-person team questioned Foxconn company executives and human resources representatives and asked to provide documents related to recruitment practices and compliance with labor laws.

The source learned from Foxconn's human resources department and third-party recruiters that family responsibilities, pregnancy, and high absenteeism rates were the reasons for avoiding hiring married women, but Foxconn relaxed this practice during the peak production period.

Foxconn claims that it has no discrimination. The factory currently employs 41,281 people, including 33,360 women, and among these women, about 2,750 (about 8%) are married. However, Foxconn did not provide the proportion of married women by department (especially in the iPhone assembly department).