# Facebook grants staff time off for May 1 civic action

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/04/28/facebook-grants-staff-time-off-may-1-civic-action/
- Published: 2017-04-28T09:23:06+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Facebook employees in the US will be allowed time off on 1^(st) 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](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-18/facebook-gives-staff-green-light-to-protest-trump-on-may-1)
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.

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[Google is also reported](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/25/buzzfeed-google-allows-employees-to-protest-may-1.html)
to be making the same promise to its workers.

 

The 1^(st) 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](https://www.facebook.com/WeBot/), a
Facebook Messenger bot that people can message to find out where protests are taking
place near them.

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