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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW — 06/23/09

Presidential memo expands limited benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees

On June 17, 2009, President Obama signed a memorandum intended to expand certain benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees. The memorandum allows domestic partners of federal employees to be added to the long-term care insurance program, and federal employees must be allowed to use their sick leave to take care of domestic partners and non-biological, non-adopted children. Health care and pension benefits are not extended to same-sex domestic partners, however, and the President has stated that he is prevented from making that extension by federal law. In keeping with that statement, President Obama has called for a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which he described as discriminatory, and as interfering with states' rights.

John Berry, Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has described the action by the President as "a first step, not a final step." Also included in the memorandum, said Berry, is a direction to the heads of executive departments and agencies, in conjunction with the OPM, to review all the benefits they provide to employees to see if they might be similarly extended. Benefits would also be extended to foreign service employees stationed abroad, including the use of medical facilities, medical evacuation, and housing allocations for families.

Source: Fact Sheet, Office of the Press Secretary, June 17, 2009, On-the-record conference call with John Berry, June 17, 2009, Statement by the President, June 17, 2009, Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, Subject: Federal Benefits and Non-Discrimination, June 17, 2009.

For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.

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