New Delhi

Disappointment turned to anger for two sisters Parvathi and Janaki in their 20s, as they approached the entrance of the Foxconn iPhone factory in southern India. 

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After coming across a job opening advertisement on WhatsApp, they arrived for interviews in March 2023, hopeful for new opportunities. 

However, their ambitions were halted at the gate by a security guard's discriminatory question, "Are you married?"

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"We did not get the jobs as we both are married," Parvathi said in an interview at her village shanty.

“Disappointingly, even the auto-rickshaw driver who brought us here said, they wouldn't hire married women. Despite that, we held onto hope and decided to try anyway."

According to a Reuters investigation, Foxconn has analytically excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant, on basis they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts.

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S. Paul, a former human-resources executive at Foxconn India, said company relies on Indian recruitment agencies to find potential employees. These agencies are briefed verbally by Foxconn on the company's hiring criteria. This includes the initial candidate scouting, interview scheduling, and ultimately the hiring decisions.  

Foxconn usually doesn't hire married women because of cultural issues and societal pressures, said Paul, who said he left the company in August 2023 for a better-paying role at a consulting firm.

The company's vision was that there were issues with women employees post-marriage, Paul added. “Among them were women have babies after marriage. Risk factors increase when you hire married women," he said.

Paul's account was confirmed by 17 employees from over a dozen Foxconn hiring agencies in India, and four current and ex-Foxconn HR executives. 

Agents and company HR sources cited reasons such as family duties, pregnancy, and higher absenteeism to justify excluding them. 

Additionally, many of these people also claimed jewellery worn by married Hindu women could interfere with production.

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The ban isn't permanent. Three former Foxconn HR executives told Reuters that the Taiwan-headquartered manufacturer relaxes the practice of not hiring married women during high-production periods when it sometimes faces labour shortages.

In certain cases, hiring agencies also help female candidates conceal their marital status to secure jobs, Reuters found.

However, in response to questions from Reuters, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues. 

All the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant in Chennai, however, took place in 2023 and 2024. The companies didn't address those instances. 

Though Indian law doesn't bar companies from discriminating in hiring based on marital status, Apple's and Foxconn's policies prohibit such practice in their supply chains.

Apple told Reuters it upholds the "highest supply chain standards in the industry," and noted that Foxconn employs some married women in India.

"When apprehension about hiring practices were first raised in 2022 we immediately took action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure that our high standards are upheld," Apple said in a statement. 

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

(With inputs from agencies)