Foxconn’s plant at Sriperumbudur is likely to reopen in a day or two as around 100 employees have returned to one of the dormitories. More employees will be brought in,in phases, and the resumption is expected to be very slow. It could take around two months for the plant to operate at full capacity, well-placed sources said.

The plant, which manufactures Apple’s iPhones, has been shut for over two weeks following food poisoning of 100-odd workers living in a hostel. Following this, their colleagues protested outside the plant to improve food quality and hygiene conditions at the hostel.

Foxconn TN plant likely to reopen later this week

The company’s employees, mostly women, were staying in nearly a dozen dormitories in both Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. Immediately after the problem, a couple of dormitories were vacated by the employees. Foxconn also allowed all its 15,000 employees to go on paid leave.

Apple teams working with Foxconn

Sources said that Apple has taken the issue of workers very seriously, and only if all the issues are sorted out, the plant will be removed out of ‘probation’ and ‘greened out.’ The local standards can be easily met but Apple has stringent supplier standards that need to be met. This is going to take time involving audits and re-audits, independent verification by Apple before the plant is ‘greened out,’ they said.

Meanwhile, an Apple spokesperson said, "For the past several weeks, teams from Apple, along with independent auditors, have been working with Foxconn to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are implemented in the offsite accommodations and dining rooms at Sriperumbudur. Workers will start to return gradually as soon as we are certain our standards are being met in every dormitory and dining area.”

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“Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur facility remains on probation and we will continue to monitor conditions very closely,” he said.

A statement from the Taiwan-based Foxconn said, “We have been working on a series of improvements to fix issues we found at the offsite dormitory facilities at Sriperumbudur and to enhance the services we provide to our employees. We have implemented a range of corrective actions to ensure this cannot happen again and a rigorous monitoring system to ensure workers can raise any concerns they may have, including anonymously.”

“We will gradually begin to welcome back team members as each offsite dormitory becomes ready and is approved. We continue to support our employees and thank them for their patience as we work through the improvements,” the statement said.