As Congress continues to hammer out a more than $1 trillion stimulus package, Facebook (META 0.84%) is taking matters into its own hands, announcing paid leave for its workforce.
Under the new policy, which is in direct response to the COVID-19 outbreak, employees are able to take up to a month off to care for sick family members and still collect a paycheck.
IMAGE SOURCE: FACEBOOK.
A spokeswoman for the social media giant told CNBC the company want’s to support its employees during this trying time and one way is through paid leave. “Facebook understands we are in uncharted territory with the COVID-19 pandemic,” the spokeswoman told CNBC.
In addition to the paid leave, Facebook is providing employees with paid admin leave which covers 20 days to provide caregiving. Facebook is also being more flexible in terms of the hours' employees work.
Ever since COVID-19 spread to the U.S. Facebook has been going to great lengths to protect its workforce of some 45,000. It announced earlier in the month its paying $1,000 bonuses to cover work-at-home expenses and childcare and has given Portal video-calling devices to employees who requested it. Facebook also plans to give its entire workforce top performance ratings to ensure they get their full bonuses.
It has also taken actions to rid its platform of misinformation and fake ads pertaining to coronavirus including teaming up with the World Health Organization and rolling out a coronavirus information center on the top of the news feed.
The moves are designed to support employees as the country faces a pandemic that is poised to get worse. As of Tuesday, there are more than 46,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and around 580 deaths.That’s expected to rise as testing becomes more available across the country.
