As Microsoft improvesits own benefits, the company has also been trying to raise thestandards for its subcontractors. (Photo: ALM/File Photo)

Companies that want to staff Microsoft's cafeterias, entrancedesks and other positions will have to offer thoseworkers three months of paid parental leave, the software giant saidThursday.

To qualify for contracts, companies will have to provide atleast 12 weeks of paid time off, up to $1,000 a week, at thebirth or adoption of a new child. The policywill apply to companies with 50 or more workers who perform“substantial” work for Microsoft. The requirement will be phased inover the next 12 months and is expected to impact thousands ofworkers.

Related: San Francisco now requires fully paid parentalleave

“Companies like us are in a unique position to create positiveimpact within our broader ecosystem,” said Microsoft GeneralCounsel Dev Stahlkopf. “We'd like to focus our resources oncompanies that share our values.”

Only 13 percent of private-sector workers in the U.S. get paidparental leave. As Microsoft improves its own benefits, the company has alsobeen trying to raise the standards for its subcontractors. In 2014,some of those workers unionized and began pressuring Microsoft tomake their employer provide paid leave and other benefits.

The following year, Microsoft announced it would requirestaffing firms to grant workers at least 15 days of paid time off.(Facebook has a similar policy.) The latest move makes Microsoftthe first company to require their vendors to provide parentalleave, according to Family Values @ Work, an advocacy group thatpromotes paid leave.

“Until recently most companies didn't think much about thetreatment of the employees by vendors or companies they subcontractwith,” said Ellen Bravo, co-executive director of the group.“That's a problem, particularly when a company subcontracts vitalparts of their work.”

Bravo also encouraged Microsoft and other companies that seethemselves as leaders on this issue to lobby for government policychanges that provide these benefits more widely. She also notedthat only a quarter of employee leaves are taken for a new baby,which suggests companies should also consider benefits for familyleave and other sick time. Microsoft's Stahlkopf said the companymay look at that in the future.

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