Family Medical Leave Act and Term Paper

Total Length: 1317 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 6

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The same trend is occurring in the public sector though not as quickly and not on such a wide scale. Currently there are just under 300 colleges, 150 city and county governments and 13 state governments offering their employees domestic partner benefits that are equal to the benefits provided to their married employees.

One of the benefits of including domestic partners in company benefit packages is that it helps to boost the moral of the employees who work at the company. Employees who are in domestic partnerships and work side by side with married couples performing the same jobs, but are excluded from benefits for their families have a hard time keeping their company morale up (Horowitz, 2003). Research reports that they feel like they are treated as second class citizens.

Conclusion

For many years the institute of marriage between a man and a woman was held as sacred by American society, but several decades ago that began to change. Today, many couples are in strong, life-long committed relationships with partners of the opposite sex as well as the same sex. The time has come for employers and governments to realize the changing trends in society and move to protect and encourage their employees in domestic partner relationships to receive benefits for their families.

Most of the business world looks to the Fortune 500 companies for guidance in how to be successful and when more than half of those companies voluntarily choose to provide domestic partner benefits to their non-married employees who are in committed relationships it provides evidence of what such a move does for the overall morale of the company.

The time has come for legislators at the federal level to put laws in place that provide benefits through work for all couples, whether they are domestic partners or married.


Reflection

Before I began this assignment I honestly never gave much though to the lack of benefits that are available for domestic partners. I have gay friends and have friends who are heterosexual and living together without being married, but because it doesn't impact me directly, I didn't give much thought to their benefit situation.

After doing the research for this assignment I realized how unfair it is that benefits are not federally mandated for the FMLA when it comes to domestic partner relationships. Children are being adopted every day by gay couples and those parents are being deprived of spending the first few months at home bonding with that child. It hurts the child as well as the parents.

This assignment provided me with the insight to finally understand how much of a negative impact the lack of federal mandate for FMLA with domestic partnerships has on the workforce. How can a company ask a gay man or woman to put the same effort forth in their job as their heterosexual married peer does when the company is not willing to care the same about both employees?

Personally I will support any legislation aimed at providing federal protection when it comes to company benefits and domestic partners.

Academically I will try and be more open minded to the plight of others whether or not their situation directly touches my life.

Professionally I will strive to choose companies to work for that provides domestic partner benefits. I want my skills and abilities to benefit a company that shows equal compassion to all employees, regardless of their sexual preference or personal choices......

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"Family Medical Leave Act And", 26 April 2007, Accessed.28 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/family-medical-leave-act-38204