Total Articles: 3
The Impact Of New York's Marriage Equality Act On Employee Benefits Plans
This past summer, New York passed its Marriage Equality Act, which generally provides that same-sex couples can legally marry in New York, and that same-sex married couples are to be treated the same as opposite-sex married couples under New York laws. We're reporting on it here because many believe that this law may be a harbinger of what other states may soon consider. Such laws create potential problems for benefits administrators.
New York Extends Protection to Domestic Workers and Bereavement Benefits to Same-Sex Committed Partners
Governor Paterson has recently signed into law the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights as well as an amendment to the New York Civil Rights Law pertaining to bereavement leave. These two new pieces of legislation provide additional protections to employees throughout the State of New York.
NY Court Voids City Law Requiring Contractors to Provide Domestic Partner Benefits (pdf).
On February 14, 2006, the New York Court of Appeals
held, in a 4–3 decision, that the New York City Equal
Benefits Law, which prohibited city agencies from entering
into contracts with firms that do not provide dependent
benefits to employees’ domestic partners, is preempted
by both state and federal law. The decision ends a legal
dispute between Mayor Bloomberg and the New York
City Council over the law, which had been enacted by the
Council over the Mayor’s veto in 2004.
