Same-sex marriage legalized everywhere: What employers have to do now

by Christian Schappel

The same-sex marriage argument has finally been settled in the U.S — at least from a legal standpoint. Every state is now required to allow and acknowledge same-sex marriages. This has significant implications for employers. Here’s a breakdown of what they are. 

As complicated and as sensitive of an issue as this is, the fallout from the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges is actually quite simple: Same-sex married couples will — in most cases — need to be treated exactly the same as opposite-sex married couples (one exception may be in self-insured health plans; it’s still unclear how the ruling will apply to these plans).

The good thing about this ruling — at least from an employer standpoint: It streamlines the benefits administration process significantly. In a nutshell, if a benefit is offered to employees’ opposite-sex spouses, it should also be offered to employees’ same-sex spouses.

In instances were federal and state law doesn’t specifically carve out protections for same-sex spouses (again, like in self-insured plans), employers would run the risk of violating anti-discrimination laws if they end up treating same-sex spouses differently than opposite-sex spouses.

As a result, the best — and certainly the safest — move is to treat everyone equally.

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