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Facebook is extending its bereavement and family sick leave policies to give employees more time to mourn or take care of relatives, the social media giant announced Tuesday.

Workers will now get up to 20 days paid leave following the death of an immediate family member and up to 10 days to grieve for an extended family member, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a Facebook post announcing the changes. In addition, employees will be granted up to six weeks paid leave to care for a sick relative, and three days to look after a family member with a short-term illness – for example, a child with the flu. 

"People should be able both to work and be there for their families," Ms. Sandberg wrote. "We need public policies that make it easier for people to care for their children and aging parents and for families to mourn and heal after loss. Making it easier for more Americans to be the workers and family members they want to be will make our economy and country stronger." 

The announcement comes amid growing support for paid family leave among American companies. A number of cities and states have also stepped in to institute paid family leave laws, as Harry Bruinius reported for º£½Ç´óÉñ last year: 

"Certainly there’s a momentum growing for paid family leave across the country," Vivien Labaton, co-executive director of Make it Work, a family advocacy group, told the Monitor. 

Still, more than half of the country's 60 largest employers offer no paid family leave or will not disclose their family leave policy, according to a study published in November. And just 6 out of 10 private sector workers get paid time off after the death of a loved one, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Typically, they are only granted a few days. 

For Sandberg, the decision to expand bereavement leave and family sick leave was in part a personal one. Her husband, Dave Goldberg, passed away in May 2015. 

"Amid the nightmare of Dave's death when my kids needed me more than ever, I was grateful every day to work for a company that provides bereavement leave and flexibility," Sandberg said in her Facebook post. "I needed both to start my recovery. I know how rare that is, and I believe strongly that it shouldn't be."