Domestic Partner Benefits
In America, nearly 50% of all marriages end in divorce (1). Many troubled couples site financial issues a major hindrance on the overall success of marriage. In fact, these problems are compounded further when children are factored into the overall mix. Not only do these squabbles and skirmishes hinder the overall relationship between domestic partners, but this stress often manifests itself in the work environment. This occurs in numerous ways such as decrease productivity, negative attitudes effecting employee moral, inappropriate customer service, and a general inability to perform the necessary job functions. Domestic partner benefits, when utilized properly, can help abate the natural effects of financial stress on company employees. These benefits can in fact pay for themselves, with a decrease in absenteeism, higher employee moral, and an increase in productivity. In essences, with domestic partner benefits, companies are being proactive in helping couples before they are married and encounter stressful situations that may hinder work performance
To clarify, what exactly are domestic partner benefits? In short, a domestic partnership is a committee relationship between couples who are not married. In many instances this partnership is between individuals of the same sex. However, heterosexual relationships can also be considered domestic partnerships (2). Why is this distinction important? Well first, domestic partnerships do not receive all the benefits that a married couple would otherwise obtain. They do have rights regarding financial, and in this case, employment benefits. In regards to domestic partnership employee benefits, an employee can obtain...
These include but are not limited to health insurance, family leave, tuition reimbursement, and much more. I key distinction which I will elaborate on further is that benefits do not transfer for job to job. As such, as I mentioned earlier, these benefits can help retain talented employees who otherwise would be tempted to leave.
Now how can domestic partner benefits detract and help a company proper? Beginning with the remunerations, domestic partner benefits are flexible in nature. A company can define a domestic partner benefit (here forth regarded as DPB) as it chooses. This flexibility allows a company to be more stringent or more lenient in the benefits it offers. This is particularly important during periods of economic contraction when benefit expenses adversely affect overall profits. For one, during periods of economic contraction, demand for consumer products usually declines. By definition an economic contraction, otherwise known as a recession, is categorized by two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Not surprisingly, 70% of our nations GDP come from consumer spending on goods and services. During periods of pessimism consumers do not spend as we are currently witnessing. Likewise usually benefit costs for corporations increase over time. Simple math then will show that when profits decrease and employee costs increase, holding all other aspects constant, profitability of the firm decreases. By defining what is considered a domestic partnership, corporations can hedge against economic fluctuations.
Further, domestic partner benefits are a means to improve employee moral, especially for same…
