Facebook has updated its policy to allow full-time employees four months of paid baby leave, coming less than a week after Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that he will take two months off for the birth of his first child, reported The Guardian.
The policy change, set to take effect on January 1, 2016, was announced in a blog post by Lori Goler, Facebook's head of HR and recruiting, and applies to all of the social media giant's 11,000-plus employees nationwide. That includes new mothers, fathers and same-sex parents.
Only Facebook employees in the U.S. were previously allowed to take four months leave, according to Business Insider.
"In reviewing our parental leave policies, we have decided to make this change because it's the right thing to do for our people and their families. Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families," wrote Goler.
"Our approach to benefits at Facebook is to support our employees and the people who matter most to them. We want to be there for our people at all stages of life, and in particular we strive to be a leading place to work for families. An important part of this is offering paid parental or 'baby' leave."
While the change only applies to full-time workers, Facebook also added new benefits for part-time and contract workers in May, including a $4,000 new-child benefit, $15 minimum wage, and at least 15 paid days off for holidays, sick days, and vacation, according to The Daily Dot.
Other companies have recently taken similar steps to improve the work-life balance of its employees. Spotify announced last week that all of its employees would be given six months paid parental leave, and LinkedIn said last month it would give employees an unlimited number of staff holidays, reported Venture Beat.
