The terms "spouse" and "marriage" in ERISA and a host of other employee benefit laws over which the Department of Labor has jurisdiction will now include same-sex couples legally married in any state that recognizes such marriages.

So said the DOL on Wednesday in issuing the latest regulatory guidance since the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this year.

Most critically, the agency said its determination about how employers should interpret "spouse" and "marriage" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 applies regardless of where an employee and his or her same-sex spouse reside.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Employer-Paid
Compliance