1 . Microsoft has announced a policy requiring its contractors to offer employees a minimum of 12 weeks' paid parental leave to care for a newborn baby, paying them up to $1,000 a week. The policy, which affects US- based companies that do work for the technology company and have more than 50 employees, will be rolled out over the next year. It will affect people including the company's cafeteria workers, door keepers and IT support staff.

Microsoft said it was inspired by a new Washington state law for paid parental leave taking effect in 2020. The new law only applies to contractors' and suppliers' employees in that state, so Stahlkopf, the company's general counsel, said they wanted to expand it so it wouldn't leave thousands of valued contributors outside of Washington behind.

The new policy will bring the parental leave benefits of affected contractors in line with those of full-time employees, who also get 12 weeks' paid parental leave, while birth mothers get an additional 8 weeks' paid time off.

"The case for paid parental leave is clear,” said Stahlkopf, in a blog post, citing various studies showing that it improves productivity, morale and retention of new mothers, “Further, when men and women have the opportunity to take paid leave, it can help counteract gender caregiving stereotypes and promote equity in the home and office,” added Stahlkopf.

Ellen Bravo, co-director of Family Values@ Work, a group that promotes paid leave, praised Microsoft for the move. “We applaud Microsoft for the leadership they've given in the fight for paid leave,” Bravo told CNN. “At the same time, we have to ensure the time spent, caring babies does not remain a workplace benefit dependent on who you work for or where you live.”

Microsoft has been under pressure to improve working conditions for contractors after some workers unionized in 2014 and started pushing for benefits like paid leave. In 2015, Microsoft announced it would require its suppliers to give their workers at least 15 days' paid time off.