The government has finalized a policy that’s been in effect on a temporary basis for nearly three years, extending to federal employees with same-sex spouses the same rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act that previously applied only to opposite-sex marriages.
The final rules, which took effect April 7, represent the latest in a series of changes to federal employee benefits resulting from a 2013 Supreme Court decision striking down a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act. The court declared that gay married couples must receive the same federal benefits that heterosexual couples receive.
The FMLA allows federal employees to take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave per year related to childbirth, adoption and certain medical conditions affecting the individual or certain family members. Following the 2013 court decision, the Office of Personnel Management applied those policies to federal workers in same-sex marriages.
Last week’s finalization brings OPM’s rules in line with Labor Department rules for those private-sector employees the law covers.
In light of the 2013 ruling and one in 2015 requiring all states to perform and recognize same-sex marriages, OPM has revisited several benefits that previously were extended to same-sex — but not opposite-sex — domestic partners who meet certain qualifications.
