Dive Brief:
- With same-sex marriage legal in 37 states and the District of Columbia, some employers are telling gay workers they must tie the knot in order to maintain healthcare coverage for their partners, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- About a third of public- and private-sector employees in the U.S. have access to benefits for unmarried gay partners, according to federal data, but employment lawyers say the fast-changing legal outlook is spurring some employers to rethink that coverage.
- Mainly, some employers who offer benefits targeting same-sex partners say it is only fair to require those couples to marry where legal, just as their straight co-workers must do to extend coverage.
Dive Insight:
The trend is not being received favorably by same-sex couples and advocates, but others say it's fair.
One employer, Delta Air Lines Inc., recently began phasing out same-sex domestic partner health benefits for employees in states where same-sex marriage is legal, Joanne Smith, the company’s chief HR officer, told the Journal.
The company also said that as it phases out the benefit, and in states where same-sex marriage is illegal—including its home state of Georgia—it will cover the extra income taxes paid by employees whose domestic partners receive health benefits. Both decisions are intended to even out the benefits and tax treatment for gay and straight couples, says Smith.
Then there are companies such as Google, IBM and Dow Chemical, which offer domestic partner benefits for both gay and straight couples; marriage is not required.
