The Centre on Wednesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to submit a report after a Reuters article claimed that married women were not being allowed to work at an Apple iPhone manufacturing unit run by Foxconn in the state.

Foxconn, a Taiwanese manufacturing firm, is one of American technology company Apple’s biggest suppliers.

The Reuters report on Tuesday said that Foxconn had been systematically excluding women who were married from assembly jobs at its main iPhone factory in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram district, on the grounds that they had “more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts”.

Foxconn said it “vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form”.

On Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment said it had taken note of the article and had sought a detailed report from the Tamil Nadu government’s labour department.

A press release from the ministry cited the Equal Remuneration Act, which says that there should be no discrimination while recruiting men and women workers.

“As the state government is the appropriate authority for the enforcement and administration of the provisions of this Act, hence the report has been sought from the State government,” the ministry noted.

It added that the regional chief labour commissioner was also directed to furnish a report to the ministry.

In its report, Reuters said that Foxconn hiring agents and other unidentified sources from the human resources department had cited family duties, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons that the company did not recruit married women at its plant.

Responding to questions from the news agency, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged the lapses in their hiring practices in 2022. Both firms said that work had been done to address the issues.

However, the alleged discriminatory practices brought to light by the report at the plant in Tamil Nadu took place between 2023 and 2024.

“The companies didn’t address those instances,” the Reuters report said. “They also didn’t specify whether any of the lapses in 2022 related to the hiring of married women.”

Apple told Reuters that it “immediately took action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure that our high standards are upheld” when concerns about their hiring practices were raised in 2022.

It noted that its suppliers, including Foxconn, hired married women.

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