More companies should follow the tech giant’s lead.
Working parents around the US have been struggling to juggle homeschooling, working from home and childcare for weeks now due to the new coronavirus pandemic–and companies are finally starting to take notice.
In an attempt to ease the burden on caregivers, Google announced an extension of its paid leave policy, giving an additional eight weeks to the six weeks already offered, CNN reports. Last month, the tech giant offered two weeks of paid leave to caregivers with an option of taking four more. The now-14 weeks of paid leave extend to all full-time employees at the company who need to take care of their family members amidst the pandemic, which has caused school closings throughout the country, some of which might last through the fall.
The Silicon Valley-based tech company has over 100,000 full-time employees, who can take the fully paid leave little by little or all at once. The paid leave does not extend to the thousands of the company’s contractors or vendors.
The announcement comes shortly after tech corporation Microsoft announced it’d give 12 weeks of paid leave to all full-time employees to take care of their families.
The companies’ initiatives to make their employees’ lives easier are something we hope catches on as parents struggle to balance everything the pandemic has brought on. It’s the least companies can do to show they value their workers.
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More companies should follow the tech giant’s lead.
The tech giant announced it is offering an additional eight weeks to caregivers on top of the six weeks already offered amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
