The National Human Rights Commission says labor officials failed to adequately investigate complaints of employment discrimination at Foxconn

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has criticized labor officials for not conducting thorough investigations into allegations of employment discrimination at Foxconn’s iPhone assembly plant in India. The watchdog has instructed federal and Tamil Nadu state officials to re-evaluate Foxconn’s hiring practices after reports revealed that married women were being excluded from assembly line jobs, a ban that was relaxed during peak production periods. The NHRC’s directive comes at a time when Foxconn and Apple aim to expand manufacturing in India, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to boost electronics production in the country.

According to a report published by Reuters, labor officials conducted a visit to the Foxconn plant in July but did not release their findings publicly. Documents reviewed showed that labor officials in Tamil Nadu told the National Human Rights Commission that 6.7 percent of the 33,360 women working at the factory were married, without specifying whether they worked on the assembly line. The officials claimed that hiring female employees from six regions “demonstrates that the company has employed a large number of female employees… without any discrimination.” However, the National Human Rights Commission noted that officials did not address the underlying issue of discrimination against married women.

The NHRC stated that labor officials “submitted their reports in a routine/informal manner” and failed to examine Foxconn’s employment documents. The authority stressed that “the presence of (a) certain number of female employees at the present time does not answer the question of whether the company had actually discriminated against married women at the time of employment,” highlighting that officials “appeared to have been silent.” in this regard”.

The committee ordered a “comprehensive investigation” to be conducted within four weeks, reflecting its civil court-like powers to recommend remedial action, including compensation. Neither state nor federal departments of labor responded to requests for comment on the NHRC’s assessment. The NHRC’s intervention is consistent with the government’s assertion that India’s Equal Pay Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of gender.

(With Reuters inputs)