Information about the Gay Marriage Court Ruling Business Should Be Aware Of
A little while ago, the Supreme Court actually rules in favor of same sex couples and made it so that same sex couples can actually marry. It was said that it was their constitutional right. This led up to meaning that ALL same-sex marriages were recognized in the country. This was huge news for same-sex couples, but also supporters of same-sex couples. But, of course, you always have those people that don't like it, don't support it, and never will. Below, we will be discussing a variety of topics related to gay marriage and laws, specifically geared towards same-sex couples.
Spousal Health Insurance It used to be that when you heard about spousal health insurance it was a man and woman, but now that same-sex couples are allowed to get married and its now recognized as being legal, you would might wondering about the changes of spousal insurance now. Short answer: Yes you will need to offer it to them no matter their orientation. However, if you own a company and are self - insured you will not be under the same legal requirements and you don't have to necessarily offer spousal insurance to people. Oftentimes you find that companies that are larger is self-insured. Because of this, chances are you are going to see a lot of lawsuits going on. Employers with Religious Objections If an employer has religious objections and doesn't want to "deal" with same-sex couples getting married or getting insurance or any other topics in the workplace, they, unfortunately, have really limited options available to them. Unless a company, as
mentioned above, is self-insured, then and only then can they pick and choose who to give insurance to i.e.; straight couples and nay to gay couples, but even then if the samesex employee wants the insurance, wants to fight for it, and thinks (knows) they deserve the same subject to rights, they could try to sue the employer and they could win because it is essentially a discrimination act. Will Adding Same Sex Benefits Plans Be Expensive For Employers This is sort of a loaded question and its really going to depend on the plan you had before all of this happened. Essentially if you started out already giving same sex (unmarried) domestic partners insurance, it would most likely be cheaper. The reason for this is because coverings spouses (gay or straight) doesn't have any bad or negative tax results. One of the better ways to know if you would be charged more or less is by talking to a top employment Law Attorney who knows about the updated legalities of this type of question. Tax Implications Are there any tax implications for same sex couples? Yes, but it really just comes out the same for both same sex and straight couples.
Domestic Partner Benefits
Over the past 10-12 years, many employers started offering an option called domestic partnership. This was essentially used to cover anyone that was considered to be in a domestic relationship, including same sex couples and straight couples. It was a way for both the employee and their partner to get the same coverage and equal benefits, even if they weren't legally married. Sounds great, right? Other companies also offered another plan which was given to unmarried domestic partners despite their orientation, wherein it wasn't really about married or not it was more about the choice of preferring not to marry. For the businesses that were offering unmarried benefits to each subclass - straight and gay couples, most of these companies will continue to do just that. But, the businesses that offered same-sex benefits will most likely begin phasing these out - since now there is really no need for them because everyone can benefit from the plan, not just gay or straight. On the other hand, if you are offering domestic plan benefits to just gay couples
and not straight, you will most likely also be getting a lot of lawsuits - reverse discrimination lawsuits. Kind of ironic if you think about it! If you want to stay up to date with all the latest laws, trends, guidelines and more when it comes to keeping your workplace safe and offering benefits to everyone, it’s a good idea to consider thinking about hiring a lawyer that is specifically versed in employment law. If you use a lawyer to consult you on things of this nature, chances are it will result in fewer lawsuits against you. =====