Employers looking for a unique way to make their benefits packages stand out may want to explore what could turn out to be a national trend.
Facebook became the most recent company to cover the extra costs homosexual employees must pay when their same-sex partners receive domestic partner benefits.
Employer-provided health benefits for domestic partners are currently counted as taxable income under federal law if an employees’ partner isn’t a dependent.
This ends up costing same-sex couples about $1,000 per year more than a heterosexual married couple with the same healthcare coverage.
Facebook has decided to essentially provide extra compensation to cover those costs for employees with same-sex domestic partner benefits.
The social media giant joins a growing list of others — Google, Cisco, Bain & Company, Barclays Bank and others — doing something similar.
Bain & Company, for example, has opted to provide employees with a lump sum reimbursement at the end of each year to account for the cost.
