Domestic Partner Benefits: Employer Trends and Benefits Equivalency for the GLBT Family
by Samir Luther, Manager, HRC Workplace Project
Domestic partner benefits, offered to an employee’s unmarried partner, are essential for an employer that wishes to harness the full potential of all employees. As of 2004, the average benefits plan constituted nearly one-fifth of total compensation packages for employees, with roughly half of that devoted to health insurance. For most gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender employees, the portion of those benefit plans that covers an employee’s dependents - traditionally, the employee’s spouse and children - is unavailable, creating significant disparity in compensation and the inferred value of that employee’s contributions to the company.
Data from the U.S. Department of Commerce for 2004 shows that employers are devoting a growing share of total annual compensation costs - including wages, salaries and benefits - to benefits plans, health benefits in particular. Wages and salaries now hold just 81 percent of employers’ total compensation costs, compared to 95 percent in 1950. As the cost of health insurance continues to rise, benefits are a matter of increasing importance to employees and their families. A total of 31 percent of Americans received employer-provided health insurance as a worker’s dependent as of 2003.
Domestic Partner Benefits: Employer Trends and Benefits Equivalency for the GLBT Family [PDF]