Google parent company Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has established a "COVID-19 fund" to help its workers affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Alphabet Workplace Services Director Adrienne Crowther noted that not all the contracted companies providing the internet services giant with vendors and temporary staff pay sick leaves to employees.
All third-party companies in the United States providing support workers to Alphabet in the United States are required to give paid sick leaves to employees, Crowther said, but the enforcement is currently in a "transition period."
The COVID-19 fund would make sure that all of its extended workforce is compensated for any days they may need to take off due to catching the coronavirus or otherwise being quarantined by authorities worldwide.
"As we're in a transition period in the U.S.—and to cover any gaps elsewhere in the world—Google is establishing a COVID-19 fund that will enable all our temporary staff and vendors, globally, to take paid sick leave if they have potential symptoms of COVID-19, or can't come into work because they're quarantined," Crowther said.
The workers would be paid the same money as they would for the usual hours they worked before the outbreak, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai had announced last week, after similar word from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Google has asked all of its employees in North American countries to work from home unless their work absolutely requires presence in office, as previously reported.
GOOGL opened Wednesday down $23.06, or 1.8%, to $1,252.11
