Google wants contracting firms to offer health care benefits, parental leave

Google will require contracting companies it does business with to give employees health care, parental leave and other benefits. The decision comes after months of activism from Google staff and contractors asking for equal treatment.

The new policy will require health benefits, sick leave, a $15 minimum wage, paid parental leave and $5,000 a year for education, a Google spokeswoman wrote in an email.

More than half the internet giant’s workforce is not full time. The company pays for tens of thousands of contractors, temporary workers and vendors — known internally as TVCs — who do everything from serving food in cafeterias to software code. Some of these people are employed by large staffing firms, including Adecco Group AG and Randstad NV.