On Thursday, Microsoft said that it will push its US suppliers give their employees paid time off, however it will be done only for staffers who work for Microsoft. According to Microsoft, it has approximately 2,000 US suppliers, who offer services like security and maintenance.

The company is not aware regarding the number of its suppliers, which don't provide paid time off. The company got the information regarding the matter from workers and media reports.

Brad Smith, general counsel and executive president of legal and corporate affairs at Microsoft wrote in a blog post about the company's decision. He said, "We believe paid time off is an important benefit for workers in our economy. We appreciate that this may ultimately result in increased costs for Microsoft, and we'll put a process in place for addressing these issues with our suppliers".

The announcement has been made by the company amid discussions regarding income inequality and paid sick leave. President Barack Obama asked Congress to approve measures, which would permit workers to take up to seven days of paid leave.

According to Microsoft, suppliers, who have 50 or more employees, will need to provide at least 15 days of paid time off. Most of these employees primarily work for Redmond, Washington, company. These companies can offer either 10 days of paid vacation and five days of sick leave or 15 unrestricted paid days off. According to Microsoft, a time period of 12 months will be given to suppliers to make the required changes.

According to a Microsoft spokeswoman, suppliers, who don't make the changes, will not remain suppliers of the company after that. She also added that the company did not talk about the issue with suppliers prior to the announcement of the plan on Thursday.