ACLU Praises NJ Companies Offering Domestic Partnership Benefits to Employees

NEWARK–In honor of Labor Day, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey today commends the more than 100 companies with operations in New Jersey that provide some type of domestic partnership benefits to their employees.

“”We applaud these companies for having progressive and inclusive policies that make them leaders in corporate America today,”” said Deborah Jacobs, Executive Director of the ACLU of New Jersey. “”These are companies that care about their employees, their business practices, and company morale.””

In the American workplace today, employee benefits compromise about 40 percent of total employee compensation. As a result, married employees who receive benefits for their spouses are, in effect, paid more than their co-workers with unrecognized partners. This is an undemocratic and unfair method of employee compensation. Domestic partner benefits equalize employee compensation policies by recognizing unmarried workers in committed life partnerships.

Companies offering domestic partner benefits possess a competitive edge over employers who do not offer such benefits-employees who are treated equally, fairly compensated, and valued for their work will be more productive and happier than those who are not.

While all of the companies listed below offer domestic partner benefits to employees, the beneficiaries and the benefits offered vary from company to company. The majority of the companies offer benefits to both same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples, but some only offer them to same-sex couples.

Health insurance is the centerpiece of almost all domestic partner benefit plans. But many times companies offer more robust benefit packages including: dental insurance, disability and life insurance, pension benefits, family medical and bereavement leave, membership in health clubs and credit unions, education and tuition assistance, relocation and travel expenses, and day care.

Currently, more than 4,285 U.S. employers offer domestic partner benefits: 145 Fortune 500 companies; 3,872 private companies, non-profit organizations and unions; 155 colleges and universities; and 113 state and local governments.

For more information on domestic partner benefits around the country, go to http://archive.aclu.org/issues/gay/hmgl.html.

List of companies operating in NJ offering domestic partner benefits:

Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance
Allstate Insurance Group
American Express Company
AOL Time Warner Incorporated
Apple Computer
Applied Materials
AT&T Corporation
Avaya Incorporated
Aventis Pharmaceuticals
Bank of America Corporation
Bank One Corporation
Barba Arkhon International
Barnes & Noble
Berlex Laboratories
Besam Automated Entrance System
Bloomfield College
Boda Industries
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Carbone of America
Castrol Consumer North America
Cendant Corporation
Charles Schwab & Company
JP Morgan Chase
The Chubb Corporation
Cigna Corporation
The Coca-Cola Company
Computer Associates International
Continental Airlines
Costco Wholesale
Crum and Forster Insurance
Sarnoff Corporation
Dell Computer Corporation
Eastman Kodak Company
EMC Corporation
Episcopal Diocese of Newark
Estee Lauder Companies
Federated Department Stores
First Union Corporation
Fleet Boston Financial
Ford Motor Company
Foundation Health Systems
Gap Inc.
General Motors
Goldman Sachs Investment Banking
Grignard Company
Hartford Financial Services
Hewlett-Packard
Honeywell
International Business Machines Corporation
IKON Office Solutions
Intel
I-Stat Corporation
John Hancock Financial Services
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
KPMG Peat Marwick
Lifecell Corporation
Lucent Technologies
Marriott International
Matting World
McGraw-Hill
Mediq Life Support Services Inc.
Medi-Type Transcription Service
Medtronic Inc.
Mellon Financial Corporation
Merrill Lynch
Microsoft Corporation
Morgan Stanley
Motorola
National Rail Passenger Corporation
NCR Corporation
Nextel Communications
Nextel of California
Nike
Nordstrom
Novartis Pharmaceutical
Oil and Chemical Atomic Workers Union
Omnicom (Diversified Agency Services)
Oracle
P.A. Consulting Group
Paine Webber Group
Pathmark Stores Incorporated
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Princeton University
Principal Financial Group
The Prudential Insurance Company of America
R.C.C. Consultants
Regent Book Company
Science Applications International
Serco Management Services
Southwest Airlines
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Subaru of America
Sun Microsystems
The Limited
The New York Times
Unisys Corporation
UAL Corporation
US Airways
Verizon Wireless
Viacom Incorporated
Whole Foods Market
Wild Oats
Xerox Corporation
Zoll Medical Corporation

This list is in no way a total representation of all companies offering domestic partner benefits.