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Good job Donna & Kathy
(STAFF PHOTO: MICHAEL SYPNIEWSKI)
Donna
Harrison (left) and Kathy Ragauckas stand outside their Asbury Park home.
Harrison says the fact that her employer lets her extend her health benefits to
Ragauckas makes her feel welcomed. Benefits for all
Even as the cost of benefits continues to soar, more employers are extending their benefits to gay and lesbian workers.Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/27/06BY MICHAEL L. DIAMONDBUSINESS WRITER To Donna Harrison, a computer consultant from Asbury Park, her company's benefits program means much more than health insurance or a secure retirement: It tells her whether her employer truly embraces her. So when SunGard Data Systems bought her previous company three years ago and offered benefits to her and her partner, Kathy Ragauckas, a retired Monmouth County worker, it erased any hesitation she might have had in the corporate takeover. "It makes all the difference knowing you're working for a company that respects your lifestyle, your orientation and the people at home that help you do the job you need to do," said Harrison, 44. Ocean County freeholders recently engaged in an intense debate over offering domestic-partner benefits, and a growing number of private-sector companies are offering such benefits for their gay and lesbian employees. Company officials say the decision to extend benefits beyond traditional married couples boils down to their desire to attract talented workers regardless of their private lives. But experts say gays and lesbians have yet to participate without hesitation. "Employees who are gay and lesbian are often reluctant to reveal that to their employers," said Stephen Hyland, an attorney who specializes in estates, trusts and domestic partnership issues for Hill Wallack in Princeton. "Therefore, they choose not to obtain these benefits because, basically, they don't want to come out." The idea of offering benefits to domestic partners attracted the spotlight recently in Ocean County, where Laurel Hester, a law enforcement officer stricken with cancer, lobbied freeholders to allow her to leave her pension benefits to her domestic partner, just as heterosexual workers can leave their benefits to their spouses when they die. The freeholders at first resisted before changing their minds in the face of public pressure. Hester died shortly after. The private sector more frequently is extending the benefits it offers married employees — such as health insurance — to gay employees who certify they are in a committed relationship. A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, an Alexandria, Va.-based trade group, found 32 percent of employers offered domestic partner benefits in 2005, up from just 16 percent in 2001. The sharp increase has come even though companies have tried to rein in the skyrocketing cost of benefits, ranging from health insurance to pensions. "You're obviously going to be at a disadvantage if you are going to recruit workers that might not look at a company that doesn't offer benefits like that," said Jen Jorgensen, a spokeswoman for the human resources group. Some New Jersey companies, such as Lucent Technologies Inc. have offered same-sex benefits for nearly a decade, while others expanded their benefits more recently. Newark-based Prudential Financial Inc. began offering domestic partner benefits in 2000 to help it stay competitive with other financial services companies and attract a diverse group of workers, said Ellen Borak, vice president of health and welfare benefits. She said gay and lesbian employees, like all employees, sign up for benefits online. They certify that they have lived with their partner for at least six months and are in a committed, serious relationship in which they are financially dependent on each other. The benefit has increased the company's health insurance costs by 2 percent, Borak said. But she said it also has sent a message to workers and customers alike that Prudential is an inclusive company. "I think it goes a long way to show what kind of company Prudential is: very diverse and attune to the diverse needs of the diverse work force," Borak said. "I've never heard of any business segment coming back saying we lost an account because Prudential is offering domestic partner benefits, but I have heard that it helps." Hyland said gay and lesbians still face hurdles, even when their employer offers same-sex benefits. For example, not all are comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation to their employers, so they don't participate. Additionally, employers can lawfully have a two-tiered system in which they pay the health-insurance premium of a spouse, but not a domestic partner. There are also different tax consequences. A married employee doesn't pay taxes on the money his employer pays for his spouse's health insurance premium. But a gay employee has to pay taxes for his partner's health insurance because the Internal Revenue Service doesn't recognize domestic partnerships, Hyland said. But more companies are finding the benefits outweigh the hurdles. Harrison's employer, SunGard Data Systems, an information-technology company based in Wayne, Pa., has offered domestic partner benefits since 2001, a company spokeswoman said. Harrison said the company doesn't stop there. It rewards its top employees each year with a week-long trip to a sun-drenched resort and invites them to bring their spouse, guest or partner. If Ragauckas was excluded? "It would really make me think twice whether that was an organization I wanted to work for," Harrison said. "Why would I give my talents, time and expertise to an organization that doesn't respect me and the support system I have in place at home?"
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