Facebook is now offering fathers 4 months of paid paternity leave

Facebook has updated its global paid baby leave policy to include four months of paid leave for new fathers, no matter which Facebook office they work in.

The social media giant's head of HR and recruiting, Lori Goler, announced the move in a blog post, less than a week after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is planning to take two months paternity leave himself.

Prior to today it was only possible for Facebook employees in the US to take four months paid leave.

Goler said the global reforms, which will be applied to all of Facebook's 11,000 plus employees - including new mothers, fathers, and same-sex parents - are part of Facebook's ambition to become one of the top businesses for families, however they are defined.

The move could force other large technology companies to follow suit and adopt similar policies.

Goler added that it's "right thing to do for our people and their families."

Her full blog post reads:

In the UK, the statutory paternity leave is one to two weeks, although some companies do choose to offer more. More details can be read here.

NOW WATCH: We asked a bunch of kids what they think about Facebook

Please enable Javascript to watch this video