The second part introduces the research questions and a theoretical framework related to the availability of
domestic partner benefits and overall recruitment and retention.
"While state and local governments can't impose requirements on all employers within their jurisdictions to provide
domestic partner benefits, because such requirements would be pre-empted by ERISA, they can have rules that apply to their contractors-or businesses providing goods or services to the state or local government[.
Just last fall their definition was if you've been in a relationship for more than a year, then opposite gender
domestic partners are covered.
Elliott, of the Society for Human Resource Management, said the reason companies offer
domestic partner benefits is to give them a competitive edge in recruiting, attracting and retaining employees.
1) states that, "most of the opposition stems from religious objections to government recognition of adult relationships other than marriage." According to the Minnesota Family Council (2005), homosexual
domestic partner benefits requirements are nearly identical to the qualifications for traditional marriage.
Ontario law makes provision for conflicts of this kind by uncoupling married people if a
domestic partner is also in the picture.
Many corporations, noted Malheiro, "don't realize that adding
domestic partner health care benefits for lesbian and gay employees engenders minimal costs, but has an enormously positive impact on their employees, as well as their ability to recruit new employees."
And in Wisconsin, where the University of Wisconsin System has been seeking
domestic partner benefits, voters approved a constitutional amendment last month that not only defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but also bars the state from granting legal status similar to marriage to unmarried individuals.
* More than 8,250 employers provided
domestic partner benefits in 2004, a 13 percent increase over 2003;
Springfield was the first community in Massachusetts to initiate a policy that would require same-sex couples to marry in order to qualify for
domestic partner benefits.