The founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on February 15, 2020.
Christof Stache | AFP | Getty Images
Facebook has introduced new paid time off programs that will allow employees to take up to a month away from work to care for sick relatives in light of the coronavirus outbreak, a spokeswoman for the company told CNBC on Monday.
"Facebook understands we are in uncharted territory with the COVID-19 pandemic," the spokeswoman said in a statement. "We want to support our people with navigating their needs during this time. Therefore, we have launched a number of initiatives forour employees and their families."
Among these initiatives is a paid emergency care leave program that offers 30 working days of leave to employees who need to care for a sick family member, or if they need to travel to another country or state to care for a family member.
For shorter-term needs, Facebook is also offering paid admin leave, which gives employees 20 days of leave for caregiving that can be taken in one-day increments. Additionally, the company is offering flexibility to its employees in terms of work schedules, allowing them to "use alternative working hours or go offline in time chunks that work for them without taking" paid-time off, the spokeswoman said.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Facebook has been one of the most proactive companies in terms of offering benefits and support to employees.
The company has sent the vast majority of its nearly 45,000 employees to work from home. It has also given them $1,000 bonuses to spend on their work-from-home setups and costs for childcare. Facebook has also offered its Portal video-calling devices to employees who request them. Additionally, the company has said it is going to give every employee "exceeds expectations" performance ratings for the first half of 2020. This will result in each employee receiving more than their full bonus for the six-month period.
Around the world, there are more than 367,400 cases of the coronavirus with at least 16,100 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., there are at least 41,500 cases, with at least 499 deaths.
-- CNBC's Jennifer Elias contributed to this report.
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Facebook is offering employees up to a month of paid leave to care for sick family members - CNBC
