Offering Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits to Government Employees: Reasons, Examples, and Methods

• Author: Evelio E. Astray-Caneda
• Published date: 01 June 2011
• DOI: 10.1177/009102601104000201
• Date: 01 June 2011
• Subject Matter: Article

Offering Same-Sex
Domestic Partner
Benefits to Government
Employees: Reasons,
Examples, and Methods
By Evelio E. Astray-Caneda, III, MPA
Note: The author would like to thank Allan Rosenbaum of Florida
International University for his comments and suggestions.
Offering benefits, such as family leave and insurance, to gay and lesbian
employees and their spouses/partners expands a government’s hiring pool,
improves workplace satisfaction, and fosters a diverse workforce. Offering same-
sex domestic partner benefits has public support and costs .5-1% more than
offering benefits to heterosexual employees alone. Drawing on literature in public
administration, human resources, and psychology, as well as policy examples from
domestic and foreign governments, three critical aspects of this issue are
discussed. First, reasons to provide same-sex domestic partner benefits are
examined. Second, this paper looks at policy examples from governments and
private employers, and the costs of providing the benefits. Third, this paper
provides recommendations and suggested language for policies to provide
benefits to same-sex domestic partners.
This paper examines, from a public-sector perspective, the growing trend of
offering benefits, such as medical insurance, to same-sex domestic partners of
employees. Countries offering these benefits include, but are not limited to,
Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain, Croatia, and New Zealand.1 Furthermore, 13 U.S.
states, including, but not limited to, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York,
and Vermont, have joined this trend, as have 139 cities/counties.2 These governments
all offer some form of benefits to the domestic partners of their employees, whether
through specific action related to the benefits, or by default as the law and/or social
policy of the jurisdiction recognizes same-sex unions of all couples in the jurisdiction.
This paper examines three critical topics related to offering same-sex domes-
tic partner benefits. First, reasons to offer same-sex domestic partner benefits are
examined; these reasons include increased employee satisfaction, government image,
respect for civil rights, and widening of the hiring pool for government agencies. Next,
a basic review of policies examines how different countries and government agencies
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Volume 40 No. 2 Summer 2011
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are offering same-sex domestic partner benefits, and the public support for offering
the benefits. Finally, policy suggestions are presented for governments and their agen-
cies wishing to offer same-sex domestic partner benefits.
The following terms are utilized throughout this paper:
•
Benefits – Refers to the general basket of benefits offered by employers, such as
sick leave (including that for taking care of spouses/children), family leave (for
adoption, birth, etcetera), medical insurance, adoption benefits, life insurance,
and pension benefits.3
•
Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits – A benefit or benefits package that can be
offered to same-sex domestic partners of employees, as well as the dependents of
those partners in a similar fashion as if the partners were legally married.
•
Same Sex Unions – This is a catch-all phrase used to encompass same-sex civil
unions and same-sex marriage.
Why Offer Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits?
Employers may consider offering same-sex domestic partner benefits for several
reasons. Among these reasons are increasing workplace satisfaction for gay and lesbian
employees, widening an organization’s hiring pool, and alleviating civil rights
inequities.4
Workplace Satisfaction
Several studies indicate that gay and lesbian employees are happier, better performing
workers when they feel supported in the workplace. Day and Schoenrade conducted a
study of 1,063 Kansas City-area working adults, about three-quarters of whom were gay
or lesbian persons.5 The authors hypothesized that gay and lesbian persons who had
refrained from revealing their sexual identity at work would show less favorable work
attitudes than gay and lesbian persons open about their sexuality at work, and all
heterosexual persons. This is in part because, when gay and lesbian persons hide facts
about their sexuality and relationships, they often cannot readily form a bond with an
organization. Overall, their hypothesis was supported, as, “…more open homosexuals
showed higher affective commitment, higher job satisfaction, higher perceived top
management support, lower role ambiguity, lower role conflict, and lower conflict
between work and home.” These effects are clearly positive for the workplace.
Griffith and Hebl hypothesized that the more organizational support and
structures are put in place for gay and lesbian employees, the more likely it is that they
will disclose their sexual orientation at work.6 In turn, as the Day and Schoenrade study
also hypothesized, Griffith and Hebl hypothesized that increased disclosure of their
sexual orientation by gay and lesbian employees will lead to increased job satisfaction.
The former hypothesis was borne out by the study, gay supportive policies were
directly correlated to increased disclosure of sexual orientation at work. The study,
however, did not find support for the hypothesis that gay-supportive policies could be
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directly correlated to higher job satisfaction. The study showed that gay and lesbian
persons who do not disclose their sexual identity at work report lower levels of well-
being, increased health risks, and a drain on their energy from constantly engaging in
activities designed to hide their sexuality. Conversely, the study showed that when
organizations are perceived to be gay friendly, gay and lesbian employees tend to
report higher measures of workplace comfort. In other studies, gay supportive policies
have been correlated to increased disclosure of sexual identity, which in turn is has
been correlated to job satisfaction. Increased efforts of employers to embrace sexual
diversity could cause employees to perceive a more fair and equitable workplace, and
thus increase the workplace satisfaction of gay and lesbian employees.
A 2001 study by Ragins and Cornwell directly examined the correlation between
an organization’s offering of same-sex domestic partner benefits and gay and lesbian
perceptions of workplace discrimination.7 The authors report that there is a “very
strong” relationship between the offering of same-sex domestic partner benefits and
perceptions of workplace discrimination against gay and lesbian persons. Gay and
lesbian employees were less likely to report discrimination in companies offering same-
sex domestic partner benefits.
Gay and lesbian persons tend to report more mental health concerns, and to be at
an economic disadvantage compared to heterosexuals.8 In fact, the American
Psychological Association (APA) states, “…that it is unfair and discriminatory to deny
same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage and all its attendant benefits, rights, and
privileges.” The APA has also stated that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, and
has also recently passed resolutions stating that gay and lesbian persons should be able
to marry, as well as adopt children.9
There is evidence that gay and lesbian persons will be more comfortable in...