Microblogging website Twitter is set to join the ranks of Etsy, Change.org and Facebook as one of the big tech companies that provide their employees with a "gender-neutral" parental leave.

Starting May 1, any male or female Twitter employee can take up to 20 weeks of paid time off to take care of their expectant partners or newborn baby.

Under Twitter's current parental leave policy, expectant mothers can take up to 20 weeks of paid leave, while new fathers or those choose to adopt children are only given up to 10 weeks of paid time off.

The new paid leave policy, on the other hand, extends the 20-week fully paid leave period to all full-time employees of the company in the United States with a new child.

Twitter's 3,900 employees abroad will be able to avail of the gender-neutral parental leave beginning on July 1.

Twitter said that the decision to change the existing parental leave policy was made in order to adapt to changes in modern-day family structures. It is also designed to provide evenly distributed parenting opportunities to both male and female employees as well as to those who belong in a same-sex or heterosexual relationship.

Jeffrey Siminoff, Twitter's new vice president of inclusion and diversity, explained that their objective was to expand how people perceive what parental leaves are all about. He said that primary caregiving is not something that is easily defined.

According to a recent article by Fortune, about 88 percent of people working in the private sector do not have access to any form of paid parental leave.

However, more and more Silicon Valley companies are adopting newer and more inclusive policies for parental leaves, which could set a trend for other firms to follow.

Siminoff pointed out that Twitter is part of a heavily watched industry because of the various services and products it provides its users. It is the company's goal to lead by example so that it can impact how other people decide as well.

While there may be a new parental leave policy, many male employees in the United States still choose not to spend the entire 20-week paid time off period.

One of the biggest challenges for companies such as Twitter is to convince new dads that it is socially acceptable to spend much needed time with their child.

They also have to help both their male and female employees to understand that taking up to 20 weeks of paid time off would not have any negative impact on their job security.

Twitter said that it is planning to bring in outside trainers that will help company managers to manage both their teams and workloads well under the new gender-neutral parental leave.

Photo: Meagan Jean | Flickr