Domestic Partner Benefits
Position:
Under current law, domestic partners of federal employees are not eligible to receive insurance, family leave, survivor annuities, and other benefits for which spouses are eligible. Since benefits comprise a great deal of federal employee compensation, this disparity effectively denies federal employees with domestic partners equal pay for equal work. The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (H.R. 2517/S. 1102) would make same sex domestic partners eligible for these benefits. Similar domestic partner benefits are already being offered by numerous state and local governments and in many workplaces in the private sector. NFFE-IAM strongly supports this legislation.
Letter to White House Supporting Executive Memorandum on Domestic Partnerships
Letter to the Senate Supporting
S. 1102 - Letter to the House Supporting
H.R. 2517
Background:
The Domestic Partnership
Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009 would give
the domestic partners of federal employees the
same benefits – and require of them the same
obligations – as the spouses of federal
employees. Under the legislation,
same-sex domestic partners of federal employees
living together in a committed relationship
would be eligible for health benefits,
long-term care, Family and Medical Leave, and
federal retirement benefits, among others. The
domestic partners of federal employees would
also be subject to the same responsibilities
that apply to the spouses of federal employees,
such as anti-nepotism rules and financial
disclosure requirements.
According to
UCLA’s Williams Institute, over 30,000 federal
workers live in committed relationships with
same-sex domestic partners who are not federal
employees. Since benefits comprise a great deal
of federal employee compensation, this
disparity effectively denies federal employees
with domestic partners equal pay for equal
work.
Offering domestic partner benefits
has become a very common practice in all
sectors of employment. More
than half of all Fortune 500 companies and over
10,000 other private sector companies provide
benefits to domestic partners. In addition, the
governments of 13 states, 145 local
jurisdictions, and over 300 colleges and
universities provide similar domestic partner
benefits.
Following the passage of this
legislation, federal employees would have the
right to file an affidavit of eligibility with
the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to
extend these benefits and obligations to their
partners.
A broad group of bipartisan lawmakers in
both houses of Congress have cosponsored this
legislation.
Not only would this legislation further advance an agenda of fairness and equality within federal workplaces, but, with a large group of federal employees expected to retire over the next few years, this bill would help recruit and retain the most qualified and talented federal workforce.