Microsoft To Offer Paid Leave For Child Care
Sunday, September 2nd, 2018 -- 7:30 AM
Microsoft will begin requiring its contractors to offer their U.S. employees paid leave to care for a new child.The Associated Press reports that it's common for tech firms to offer generous family leave benefits for their own software engineers and other full-time staff, but paid leave advocates say it's still rare to require similar benefits for contracted workers such as janitors, landscapers, cafeteria crews and software consultants. The new policy affects businesses with at least 50 U.S.-based employees that do substantial work with Microsoft that involves access to its buildings or its computing network. It doesn't affect suppliers of goods. Contractors would have to offer at least 12 weeks of leave to those working with the Redmond, Washington-based software giant; the policy wouldn't affect the contractors' arrangements with other companies. Leave-takers would get 66 percent of regular pay, up to $1,000 weekly.
The policy announced Thursday rolls out over the next year as the company amends its contracts with those vendors. That may mean some of Microsoft's costs will rise to cover the new benefits, said Dev Stahlkopf, the company's corporate vice president and general counsel. The new policy expands on Microsoft's 2015 policy requiring contractors to offer paid sick days and vacation.
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