CWS 3.0: May 13, 2015

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Facebook sets minimum wage for contractors, PTO

Facebook will require contractors to pay their US workers a minimum wage of $15 and provide a minimum of 15 paid days off for holidays, sick time and vacation, according to a blog post by COO Sheryl Sandberg.

In addition, contractor employees who don’t receive paid parental leave must get a $4,000 new child benefit for parents.

The standards are already in place at Facebook’s Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters for some of the company’s largest support teams, Sandberg wrote. It will expand to a broader set of vendors within the year. The broader group will include workers employed by US-based companies with more than 25 employees supporting Facebook.

“Taking these steps is the right thing to do for our business and our community,” Sandberg wrote. “Women, because they comprise about two-thirds of minimum wage workers nationally, are particularly affected by wage adjustments. Research also shows that providing adequate benefits contributes to a happier and ultimately more productive workforce.”

Facebook’s move sets a minimum wage, but Microsoft announced in March it was requiring paid time off for contingent workers.