Microsoft, the software firm that began requiring its U.S. suppliers to offer paid time off three years ago, now says that they must compensate employees for at least three months of parental leave as well.
The new policy, to be implemented over the next year, obligates suppliers to pay salaries of up to $1,000 a week to men and women who take time off for the birth or adoption of a baby, the Redmond, Wash.-based company said in a statement. The minimum standard will apply to businesses with more than 50 employees who do “substantial work” for Microsoft, but it doesn’t supplant state laws with more generous provisions.
“We appreciate that this may ultimately result in increased costs for Microsoft, and we’ll put a process in place for addressing these issues with our suppliers,” said Dev Stahlkopf, the company’s general counsel.
Support for paid family leave has been growing since 1993, when Congress approved 12 weeks of unpaid time off for qualifying workers, and President Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a White House adviser, has championed the cause during her father’s term.
“Paid family leave enables parents to balance the competing demands of work and family, pursue their careers, and build strong and thriving families,” she wrote in a July 11 column for Fox News. “It is an investment in the future of our workers, our families, and our country.”
The U.S. is the only developed nation that doesn’t require any type of paid leave for workers, though California, New Jersey and Rhode Island mandate it. Washington, Microsoft’s home, is working to implement a law that requires four months of parental leave in which workers receive 90 percent of their salary, up to $1,000.
Still, as of March 2016, only 13 percent of all privately-employed American workers had access to the benefit according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Research shows women who take paid maternity leave are more likely to remain in the workforce a year later — and to earn more than mothers who don’t, Stahlkopf pointed out.
“We welcome the opportunity to engage in the important national conversation about how all U.S. workers, regardless of where they work, can access paid parental leave,” she said. “As we gain experience with this new approach, we’ll share what we learn with others.”
