Microsoft now requires U.S. suppliers to give employees paid parental leave

Microsoft announced this week that it will now require its U.S. suppliers to provide a minimum of 12 weeks of parental leave for their employees. The new policy builds off of a rule Microsoft implemented in 2015 requiring those same suppliers to provide employees with paid time off.

Microsoft will implement the paid parental leave policy over the next 12 months. Applying to parents who take time off for the birth or adoption of a child, the policy will require a minimum of 12 weeks of paid parental leave at up to $1,000 per week. The new rule will apply to all suppliers across the U.S. who have more than 50 employees.

From Microsoft:

Our new supplier parental leave requirement is informed by important work on paid parental leave done in states, including Washington. In 2017, Washington state passed family leave legislation, including paid parental leave. This new law will take effect in 2020. As we looked at this legislation, however, we realized that while it will benefit the employees of our suppliers in Washington state, it will leave thousands of valued contributors outside of Washington behind. So, we made a decision to apply Washington's parental leave requirement more broadly, and not to wait until 2020 to begin implementation.

Microsoft says that it will work with suppliers to "make these changes in a thoughtful way" to address any issues that may arise.