Articles
Does The Civil Partnership Act Affect Your Workplace?
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on 5th December 2005. The Act provides for homosexual couples to obtain legal recognition for their relationship conferring benefits and obligations on the partners similar to those of a married couple. Most of these rights and obligations affect either the relationship between the partners themselves or the relationship between the partners and the State. The effect of the Act will impact in several important ways into the employment relationship. An employer will need to recognise that civil partners will be entitled to access to employment benefits which will include pensions in the same way as a married couple. In addition, employers will need to take account of the change to discrimination law which will make it unlawful to discriminate a person because they are in a civil partnership.
The changes which will be introduced by the Civil Partnership Act 2004 will mean that employers will now need to consider the whole range of benefits they make available to spouses of employees. The benefits made available by the company itself could include discounts on particular services or products, travel concessions to family members, wedding gifts given by the company and insurance based benefits including healthcare and private medical cover will also be affected. An employer should review the benefits which are currently available to spouses to see whether they should also now be made available to civil partners.
In addition, pensions are an area in which the Civil Partnership Act 2004 could have a significant impact on employers. The most important issues are whether civil partners will be able to secure survivor’s benefits accruing under pensions schemes after the Civil Partnership comes into effect and to what extent they can claim the benefit of accruals which have already occurred.
Another area where employers will need to be careful is with regard to discrimination in the workplace. The registration of a civil partnership under the Act can be done privately. However, if an employee discloses the fact of registration to their employer particular care will need to be taken by the employer with this information and whether or not the employee has stressed that it should be confidential. An employer will already have obligations of confidentiality under the Data Protection Act.
Employers will need to recognise civil partnerships in the same way as they do marriages but in addition they will have to ensure that civil partners are not subject to any discrimination by reason of their sexual orientation should their status as a civil partner become known, whether voluntarily or not.
Therefore it would be prudent for all employers to review and take into account the new rights of civil partners. Employers should consider reviewing their policies and practices to ensure that civil partners are treated in the same way as married employees.
For further information please contact Graham Young