Gay Marriages: why they affect your business

The connection between the rights of gay couples to marry and how you run your business may not be immediately apparent but it’s real and has to be taken into account.

Otherwise you could find yourself on the receiving end of costly litigation in future.

Thousands of same-sex couples are taking advantage of the chance to formalise their relationship under the new Civil Partnership Act.

It gives them virtually the same rights as those afforded by traditional marriage.

It means employers have to ensure that civil partners are given the same benefits at work as other married employees.

These benefits include anything you provide for the spouses of heterosexual couples. Private health insurance perhaps, staff discounts, death in service benefits.

Staff contracts will have to be updated and the company’s handbook should be amended to make it clear that any benefits now afforded to staff spouses are now extended to civil partners.

That may not be as simple as it seems. For things like health insurance for example it will be necessary to consult the insurance company to make the necessary amendments to your policy. This could involve extra costs.

Generally speaking, the new benefits need only to be made available to partners from 5^th December, 2005 when the Civil Partnership Act came into force.

There could, however, be serious implications involving pensions. It may be necessary to do some backdating so firms should consult their pensions provider for clarification. 

The penalty for firms who fail to meet these requirements is that they could fall foul of sex discrimination laws which have been amended to include protection for civil partners.

If they are refused these rights or treated less favourably than single employees they could claim discrimination. And of course, it will be unlawful to discriminate against someone because they’ve entered into a civil partnership.

This may seem alarmist but in reality there shouldn’t be too much to worry about, as long as you make sure that the firm’s employment contracts are up to date and apply equally to married spouses and civil partners.

To sign up, contact Sally on 0115 9886736 for more information.

Email : Sally Laughton