Where Congress Won’t Act, Private Ordering Fills a Gap

Today’s New York Times reports that Microsoft will require the companies with which it partners, its contractors and vendors who employ more than 50 workers, to provide their employees who do work for Microsoft with 15 days of annual paid sick leave and vacation time.  Microsoft expects that it will have to increase its pay to these partners to help them with the added expense of the policy.  

As the Times points out, it is a very American approach to the protection of workers’ rights.   Congress will not act and only a few state legislatures have done so.  Microsoft, like other large technology companies, can afford to provide decent wages and benefits to its workers.  However, companies increasingly prefer to contract work out to small companies that do not treat their workers nearly as well.  

The Times notes that the gap is not only between skilled computer programmers and unskilled or semi-skilled janitors or groundskeepers but also between whites and African Americans and Latinos.  While the latter, traditionally-underrepresented minorities account for our 3-4% of tech workers, they account for 75% of janitorial and maintenance workers.  Eschewing Google’s and Facebook’s approaches of replacing contract workers with its own employees, entitled to company benefits, Microsoft has explained its move in a manner also consistent with the great American tradition of enlightened self interest.  Microsoft general counsel explained that: 1) happy workers are more productive; and 2) sick workers who come to work can infect others.  

This move can have a big impact, especially if other major companies follow Microsoft’s lead, but I’m not sure that the effects will all be good for workers.  If a contractor has some workers that work for Microsoft and some that don’t, the Microsoft jobs suddenly become highly sought-after.  A company may try to stay below the 50-employee threshold to avoid the private regulation.  Or it may divide Microsoft work among its staff (in the interests of internal morale), which might dilute the effects of the regulation.  If you do only 20% of your work for Microsoft, do you only qualify for three days of vacation/sick leave?  It may take a few years (and a few contracts disputes) to work out the kinks.