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Good for Business: Employer Benefits for Same-Sex Couples

The many facets of the American lifestyle are ruled by a desire for immediate gratification (Didsbury, 2007). Occupationally, this makes salary the most significant compensation for working, as well as the measure of our career success. The reward for outstanding performance is a bonus. Likewise, a promotion is often coveted because it comes with an increase in salary that will in all probability elevate one's lifestyle (Thatcher, 2006). Given a choice between an annual salary of $60,000.00 and $50,000.00, the former position will attract the most attention. However, realizing that salary is not the only compensation for labor requires one to investigate the other benefits offered by potential employers. Common benefits that add monetary value to one's salary includes a retirement plan, health, dental, vision, death, and legal insurance. Insurance benefits are generally offered for the employee, their spouse, and their children. Unfortunately, several institutions, including religious and political factions, are forcing a debate on the definition of spouse. The literature review that follows explores this debate with regard to business, industry, and academia.

According to Rich Mintzer (2006), in an article that appears on the website entrepreneur.com, there are employee benefits that can be provided with little or no cost to employer. These are generally directed toward boosting employee moral. Some of the more common such benefits include the following:
working from home (if it is practical)
flexible hours
discounted health club memberships
computer discounts
"Bring your Dog to Work" day (where practical)
paid time to participate in community or charitable services
free carwashes
periodically provide lunch
monetary reward for recruiting other employees
allow employees to use free tickets given to company executives for sporting or other events
allow employees to take advantage of free-flyer miles accrued by company executives
There are other benefits, introduced in the opening paragraph, that do involve a cost to the employer. Thus these benefits increase the financial compensation to the employee above and beyond their annual salary. For example, an employer may add matching funds to a portion of the employee's monthly retirement function. Consider the individual who earns $30,000.00 per year, and contributes 5 percent of their salary to their retirement fund. A company that matches the employee contribution

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