to cover the cost
that gay and lesbian employees must pay when their
partners receive domestic partner health benefits, largely to
compensate them for an extra tax that heterosexual married couples
do not pay. The increase will be retroactive to the beginning of
the year.[snip]
On average, employees with domestic partners will pay about $1,069
more a year in taxes than a married employee with the same
coverage, according to a 2007 report by M. V. Lee Badgett, director
of the Williams Institute, a research group that studies sexual
orientation policy issues.So Google is essentially going to cover those costs, putting
same-sex couples on an even footing with heterosexual employees
whose spouses and families receive health benefits.
Full story: http://tinyurl.com/337ta9f