Microsoft announced a new policy Thursday that it hopes will shrink that gap, pledging it will ink contracts only with service providers who give their employees 12 weeks of paid family leave. The announcement comes as Washington state, where the company is based, prepares to introduce paid family leave for workers, the fifth state to do so. Abby McCloskey, a conservative economist who has studied the issue, said Microsoft is sending the message that paid family leave should be a core worker benefit and not just a perk to lure top talent. “This is a big change from how paid family leave has been viewed in the past,” she said. Direct employees receive 12 weeks of paid family leave at full pay, and birth mothers receive an additional eight paid weeks for physical recovery.

Source: Washington Post August 30, 2018 13:30 UTC