Domestic Partner Benefits

The Case for DP Benefits
Why Change Your Policy
Facts about DP Benefits
WI Employers with DP Benefits

Why Change Your Policy

It's Good Business

Providing domestic partner benefits is simply a matter of doing good business. As domestic partner benefits become more commonplace in Wisconsin and across the nation, companies that fail to offer them will find it difficult to stay competitive.

For example, UW-Madison is the only school in the Big Ten that does not currently offer domestic partner benefits. Because of this, a growing number of talented researchers and administrators are choosing to leave UW or turn down positions here. In 2006, one high profile case put into sharp relief the cost of not offering equal benefits. A nationally recognized researcher in the cutting-edge field of nanotechnology left UW-Madison in part because he could not include his partner on his health insurance plan. This researcher has brought over $3.4 million into UW.

In order to recruit the most qualified workers possible, it’s crucial to be able to choose from the broadest possible pool of applicants. By not offering domestic partner benefits, companies often fail to attract and retain skilled, hardworking lesbian and gay people--and the many non-gay professionals who care about diversity.

According to the Human Rights Campaign the number of companies offering domestic partner benefits grew in 2003 by an average of three companies every day. Nationwide, employers offering equal benefits increased from 2,764 to over 9,000 since 1998.

As of February 2007, 255 of the Fortune 500 companies offer them, including manufacturers like General Motors, which has a presence in Janesville, and Kimberly-Clark, which has headquarters in the Fox Valley.

Wisconsin companies are keeping up with the trend: over 150 employers here offer domestic partner benefits, and that number keeps growing. When Fair Wisconsin first issued a report on this in 2003, only 90 employers had been identified at the time.

In April 2004, the Wisconsin State Journal reported that companies like American Family Insurance Group find that domestic partner benefits help them hire qualified workers, even if those workers don’t necessarily need the benefits themselves. An American Family spokesperson, Ken Dvorak, said, “Some of [the employees] may never really need it, but the fact that we offer it as a company is a very positive message for them.” That message is increasingly important to gay and non-gay employees alike.

It's the Fair Thing to Do

Offering domestic partner benefits is about making sure all employees are treated equally.

In Wisconsin, same-sex couples are prohibited from legally marrying. This means lesbian and gay people are locked out of sharing hundreds of benefits that the government and the private sector offer to married spouses, including the ability to cover a partner through one’s health insurance policy. Same-sex couples take on all the commitments and responsibilities of marriage, yet they are treated as virtual strangers to each other by government and many private employers.

Employers that do not offer domestic partner benefits violate the basic principle that every worker should get equal pay for equal work. Without domestic partner benefits, a significant portion of overall compensation is unattainable for gay and lesbian workers.

It’s a matter of basic fairness for employers to make equal compensation available to all employees.