Domestic Partners Policy

For purposes of determining benefit eligibility in our manual, a domestic partner is considered a spouse. A domestic partner is loosely defined as two individuals who are co-inhabitants of a single residence who share expenses, bank accounts and who do not use this definition for the sole purpose of obtaining health coverage for the employee’s domestic partner.

Whether an insurance carrier will acknowledge a domestic partnership application will be determined by each carrier independently.

[UNVERIFIED -- confirm with HR/counsel: Since the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision established a nationwide right to same-sex marriage, many employers have reevaluated whether to continue offering domestic-partner benefits, phased them out over a transition period, or limited them to specific circumstances, while others continue to offer them to unmarried partners of any sex. Please specify the Company’s current policy: whether domestic-partner benefits remain available to opposite-sex and/or same-sex domestic partners, whether a marriage requirement or transition/sunset period applies, and how this policy is coordinated with applicable state domestic partnership/civil union registries.]