Domestic Partner Benefits
Domestic partner or domestic partnership identifies the personal relationship between individuals who are living together and sharing a common domestic life together but are not joined in any type of legal partnership, marriage or civil union. The individuals that are domestic partners can be also categorized into sexual preference, such as gay, lesbian or even transgender. Many companies today offer a wide variety of benefits to employees, ranging from health, dental, life, and even pet insurance. Although the sharing of these benefits to a spouse is allowed, offering the same luxury to a domestic partner is often not extended.
Overall, the implementation of domestic partner benefit plans can be difficult for employers. Care must be taken to avoid discrimination for moral and legal reasons (Savasta, 1997). This paper will show the positive results for the company by offering employees domestic partner benefits. The research will show the added value the company will benefit from, and what it will do for the company’s public image.
Employees should feel that they are being treated equitably, which promotes company morale and productivity, but domestic partner benefits could introduce disparity among employees if the benefits are offered exclusively to same-sex couples or unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, but not to both (Savasta, 1997). Will the company justify the decision to offer domestic partner benefits simply to be a diverse company, or to be fair to employees?
Cost Factors
The cost of health insurance is continually on the rise, which makes health care compensation more of a concern for employees and their dependents. However, the total costs of adding domestic partner benefits to the employees' benefits packages are insignificant. A study taken in 2005 by Hewitt associates shows that the majority of employers experience a total benefits cost increase of less than one percent (Luther, 2006 ). When a company needs to stay competitive, the last thing
Overall, the implementation of domestic partner benefit plans can be difficult for employers. Care must be taken to avoid discrimination for moral and legal reasons (Savasta, 1997). This paper will show the positive results for the company by offering employees domestic partner benefits. The research will show the added value the company will benefit from, and what it will do for the company’s public image.
Employees should feel that they are being treated equitably, which promotes company morale and productivity, but domestic partner benefits could introduce disparity among employees if the benefits are offered exclusively to same-sex couples or unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, but not to both (Savasta, 1997). Will the company justify the decision to offer domestic partner benefits simply to be a diverse company, or to be fair to employees?
Cost Factors
The cost of health insurance is continually on the rise, which makes health care compensation more of a concern for employees and their dependents. However, the total costs of adding domestic partner benefits to the employees' benefits packages are insignificant. A study taken in 2005 by Hewitt associates shows that the majority of employers experience a total benefits cost increase of less than one percent (Luther, 2006 ). When a company needs to stay competitive, the last thing