Employee Benefits

Domestic Partner Benefits After the Supreme Court Decision

Anne Killian

The U.S. Supreme Court made a decision on June 26, 2015 that changed the course of same-sex marriages throughout the nation. States must now license same-sex marriages and cannot refuse to recognize those performed in other states. The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans administered a survey to find out how the Obergefell v. Hodges decision will affect employers. Slightly more than half of employers responding to the survey believe the Supreme Court ruling will have an impact on their organization.

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Here’s what else we found:

Same-Sex Domestic Partners

  • More than half of employers (57.4%) offered benefits to same-sex domestic partners at the time of the ruling.
  • Among those organizations, more than 70% are likely to continue providing those benefits and 30% are unlikely.

What’s the main reason 30% of employers are unlikely to continue providing benefits to same-sex domestic partners? They only offered it in the past because same-sex couples couldn’t legally marry–and now they can.

Opposite-Sex Domestic Partners

  • Almost half of employers (45.4%) offered benefits to opposite-sex domestic partners at the time of the ruling.
  • Among those organizations, more than 80% are likely to continue providing those benefits and less than 20% are unlikely.

Employers that offer benefits to same- and opposite-sex domestic partners said their main reason for continuing to offer them is the desire to be equitable (if they offer to one type of domestic partner, they feel they should offer to both). Other reasons include attracting and retaining quality employees, recognizing all types of families and feeling it’s the right thing to do.

Employers also weighed in on how the decision will impact their benefits administration. When employment laws change, there can be a significant impact on the administration requirements placed on employers. In this case, most employers are reporting that their work either stayed the same (53%) or got easier (38%). Only 8.9% report that their administration difficulties are increasing due to the decision.

To review the findings of this survey, visit www.ifebp.org/domesticpartnerbenefits.

 

 

Anne Killian
Communications Associate at the International Foundation

Anne Patterson

Communications Associate at the International Foundation

Favorite Foundation service/product: The innovative member survey efforts and results from the research team.

Benefits related topics that interest her most: Healthcare (especially the inner workings of the Affordable Care Act), non-traditional wellness initiatives, employee benefit communication

Personal Insight: It’s all about balance with Anne. She loves to run and enjoys a good culinary adventure. She’ll jump at the chance to travel or to spend fun times with family and friends, but she’ll also take time to catch her breath with an occasional Netflix binge or classic novel.

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