Market Areas > Human Resources >Domestic Partner Benefits

Domestic Partner Benefits: Managing Legal, Administrative and Tax Challenges

Tuesday, February 21, 2012  |  2:00 PM to 3:15 PM Eastern

Course Description:

Offering domestic partner benefits isn’t just as simple as adding a new option to check off on a form. In fact, when drafting a domestic partner benefits policy, you’ll first need to consider: 

1. Who qualifies as a domestic partner (more complicated than you may think),
2. What benefits will be offered (health, pension, FMLA, survivorship), and
3. Applicable taxation and the various municipal, state, and federal laws that affect domestic partner benefits.

Course Highlights:

During this comprehensive audio conference, leading employee benefits law expert, Finn Pressly Esq. of Seyfarth Shaw, will guide you through the most challenging issues surrounding domestic partner benefits, including:

• Determining whether to offer DP benefits: Overview of domestic partner benefits in the workplace, including a look at current trends, nondiscrimination concerns, and costs.
• Who is a domestic partner? A discussion of the wide spectrum of relationships that are often grouped under the umbrella of "domestic partnerships." We'll explore the differences (and varying legal impacts) among common law spouses, same-sex domestic partners, opposite-sex domestic partners, civil unions, and same-sex spouses.
• Understanding the Legal framework: Employers must be aware of the various federal, state, and even municipal laws that affect domestic partner benefits.
• Identifying what benefits to offer: In addition to health, dental, and vision benefits, employers should also keep their eye on other benefits, such as FMLA leave, death-related benefits, retirement benefits, and a host of other welfare benefits.
• Issues in plan administration/design: Employers that decide to cover domestic partners face a number of different plan design and administration issues. These include defining domestic partner in the plan documents, deciding how to substantiate a participant's relationship, offering continued coverage, and overseeing related payroll and withholding issues.
• Tax treatment for domestic partner benefits: This is an often overlooked -- but extremely important -- area of domestic partner benefits. Employers must understand the various federal (and state) tax laws to determine whether or not to impute income for the cost of domestic partner coverage.
• Legalizing gay marriage: How does this trend impact the offering of domestic partner benefits?

Faculty:

D. Finn Pressly, Associate, Seyfarth Shaw, LLP

Mr. Pressly is an associate in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  He focuses his practice on employee benefit plans.  Mr. Pressly has experience counseling clients on health and welfare plans and qualified retirement plans.

Mr. Pressly regularly advises clients on health & welfare plan compliance, including medical and dental plans, cafeteria plans, flexible spending accounts, wellness programs, and retiree benefits.  He counsels clients on plan design decisions relating to COBRA, HIPAA, and health care reform legislation.  Mr. Pressly has also assisted clients with qualified retirement plan design and administration questions, as well as submitting plans for voluntary correction.

MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE:

We're so confident you'll get what you want out of this conference that we'll refund every penny if you're not completely satisfied. No questions asked! It's 100% risk-free!

pricing:

Unable to Attend?  Order the CD!
Your CD recording includes the complete audio conference presentation, audience Q&A and presentation materials.

APPROVED FOR RECERTIFICATION CREDIT:

HRCI - Receive 1.25 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org. "The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute's criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit."

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