Microsoft has taken steps to ensure its suppliers give their employees at least 15 days of paid leave per year as controversy reigns over the wider use of contractors in the IT industry. The move was announced by general counsel Brad Smith in his blog. Mr Smith said that there had been increasing debate about income inequality and the challenges facing working people and families over the past year with Microsoft being targeted alongside other tech companies.  

Annual paid leave

Mr Smith said the company was firstly ' focusing on ensuring a minimum of 15 days of annual paid time off for the eligible employees at our suppliers, either through 10 days of paid vacation and five days of paid sick leave or through 15 days of unrestricted paid time off.'  He said it applied  to suppliers with 50 or more employees in the United States and their  US employees who have worked for them for more than nine months (1500 hours) and who performed substantial work for Microsoft.

Cost to suppliers

The general counsel added that the company recognised that this approach would not reach all employees at all of its suppliers but would, however, apply to significant numbers. Acknowledging the increase in costs to suppliers, he wrote that '.. our plan is to work with them to implement these changes over the next twelve months. We appreciate that this may ultimately result in increased costs for Microsoft, and we’ll put a process in place for addressing these issues with our suppliers. We want to be clear. Many of our suppliers already offer strong benefits packages for their employees, including paid time off. We don’t currently have data on how many do and how many do not provide paid time off, but our new policy will ensure that every supplier with 50 or more employees will do so for employees doing substantial work for Microsoft.' Source: Brad Smith Blog