A.

Scott
Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Two persons residing together in a long-term, committed
relationship without the benefit of marriage.
May be either opposite-sex (heterosexual) couples or
same-sex (homosexual or gay) couples.
Opposite-sex couples choose to live together without
getting married for personal reasons.
Same-sex couples generally do not have a choice about
whether or not to get married, except in a handful of
states that either allow same-sex marriages or offer civil
unions between same-sex couples.
What is a Domestic Partnership?

Health Insurance
IRS code
Health Savings, Reimbursements, Insurance
Dental Insurance
Dependent insurance
Spousal Insurance
What are the important
issues?


Gender Identity
Non-Discrimin.

Domestic Partner
Benefits

Domestic
Partner
Registry

Counties
Durham Yes
Guilford
Mecklenburg Yes
Orange Yes Yes
Buncombe Yes Yes
Cities & Towns


Asheville

Yes Yes Yes
Boone

Yes

Yes



Carrboro

Yes

Yes

Yes

Charlotte







Chapel Hill

Yes

Yes

Yes

Durham Yes
Greensboro Yes
High Point







Raleigh







Winston-Salem







NC Jurisdictions with DPB Policies

Local Education Agencies
UNC System
UNC Community College System

Entities under State
Health Plan

States Offering DPB to
Employees
Vermont (1994)

New York (1995)

Hawaii (1997)

Oregon (1998)

California (1999)

Connecticut (2000)

Maine (2001)

Rhode Island (2001)

Washington (2001)

District of Columbia (2002)



Iowa (2003)

New Mexico (2003)

New Jersey (2004)

Montana (2005)

Alaska (2006)

Illinois (2006)

Arizona (2008)

Wisconsin (2009)

Maryland (2009)

Illinois (2012)

Companies offering DPB
Over half of Fortune
500 companies offer
SSB.
Lowes Companies
Progress Energy
Bank of America
Goodrich
Reynolds American,
BB&T
Duke Energy
Duke University
Wake Forest University
University of NC CH
269/500 Fourtune 500
88/100 Top Law Firms
145 local governments
305 Universities

No.
Under NC GS North Carolina public employer does
not legally have to extend the same benefits, to an
employees same-sex partner.
The State of NC does not recognize marriage
certificate or civil union certificate from a state where
such unions are recognized.
Are employers required to
extend DPB?

Local Governments.
The General Statutes do not, anywhere expressly
address whether local government employers may
offer benefits to the domestic partnerssame-sex or
opposite-sexof their employees.
The authority given to local governments to design
employee benefits programs is broad.
Who has the authority to grant
domestic partner benefits?

Yes.
N.C. G.S. grants to city councils the power to fix or
approve the schedule of pay, expense allowances
and other compensation for all city employees . . .
purchase life, health, and any other forms of
insurance for the benefit of all or any class of
employees and their dependents, and may provide
other fringe benefits for employees
Do local authorities have the power
to grant such SSB?

Fear of lawsuits, by not offering all employees in all
jurisdictions benefits
Benefits offered to employees can be added to
income for tax purposes
Social Security taxes will increase WRONG
Employee benefits will be reduced
Workplace will force diversity on employees and
curtail free speech
Medical insurance premiums will rise

Opponents of DPB

Cost are minimal to the entity, decreases employee
dependence on public assistance
Helps to attract and retain highly qualified workers
Cost-effective strategy for fully harnessing workforce
potential.
Promotes workplace equality
Why offer benefits

1. The states should clearly define the definition of a
dependent
2. Individuals wishing be receive SSB should petition
their local governing boards to have these benefits.
3. Legal challenges
Analyses &
Recommendations