Facebook grants staff time off for May 1 civic action

Facebook employees in the US will be allowed time off on 1st May if they want to take part in political protests, according to a story in Bloomberg, with Google also offering the same deal. The Bloomberg story has been widely repeated in the media and says that Facebook staff have been told they will not face disciplinary action if they take time off, regardless of whether they notify the company in advance. Facebook has also said it will investigate any of its contractors working on its campus that penalise their staff who take time off to protest. Google is also reported to be making the same promise to its workers. The 1st May is International Workers Day, and a number of political protests are expected to take place in the US in support of immigrant, low-wage, and subcontracted workers, and in protest against the Trump administration. Earlier this year, Facebook launched Webot, a Facebook Messenger bot that people can message to find out where protests are taking place near them.

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