That conclusion becomes all the more believable when you consider that legal, administrative and other factors continue to muddy the waters of the domestic partner issue, making the decision to offer such benefits relatively complex. For some employers, recognizing societal shifts may be at the root of the decision to offer such benefits. For example, the number of unmarried-couple households jumped from 1.6 million in 1980 to 4.2 million in 1998, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The scope of benefits varies according to how a company defines a domestic partner. One way is to listen.
Employees typically bring the subject to management s attention through diversity groups.
As a result, Coors decided to extend medical, dental and vision benefits to domestic partners in 1995, says Barbara Albanesi, manager of benefits. Sherman recommends getting specific feedback from your workforce to help determine employee interest in domestic partner benefits. Tower Records, the 218-store record and video retailer based in Sacramento, Calif., asked those questions before deciding to extend its coverage to domestic partners. Upper management and employees alike felt it was an important issue that made sense for us as a company. Another factor driving acceptance of domestic partner benefits has been nondiscrimination policies, which have been widely adopted and amended to include sexual orientation in company handbooks and corporate mission statements.