Civil Partnership

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force 5th December 2005. The Act will allow two non-related adults of the same sex to register a civil partnership, which has many of the same rights and responsibilities as marriage.

Further information: www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/civilpartnership/

From 5th December the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 will allow employers to restrict employment benefits to married people and people in civil partnership to the exclusion of those who hold neither status. The Regulations will also require spouses and civil partners to be treated equally in the workplace and for vocational training.

Employers should:

  • Check benefits provided for spouses of employees, or benefits contingent on marriage such as health insurance for a spouse, or time off before or after marriage. These benefits must also be made available to an employee in a civil partnership, or to their civil partner, if appropriate. There is no requirement to offer these benefits more widely than spouses and civil partners – ie to unmarried opposite-sex couples and unregistered same-sex couples
  • Amend HR systems and forms and outward facing material and forms to reflect the introduction of civil partnership. Where there is a reference to spouse or marriage there should also be a reference to ‘civil partner’ or civil partnership’
  • Avoid making people identify themselves as either married or in a civil partnership. In most situations because treatment given to civil partners and married people is the same, there should be no need to identify them separately
  • Be aware that some people may want to change their name upon registering a civil partnership, or hyphenate their name with their partners. It is customary that a marriage certificate can be used as evidence of a change of name, therefore the Government will treat civil partnership certificates as evidence of a change of name eg for the purposes of passports and drivers licences
  • Check with trustees of your contracted-out occupational pension scheme that the scheme rules accord with Civil Partnership (Contracted-out Occupational and Appropriate Personal pension Schemes)(Surviving Civil Partners) Order 2005, Statutory Instrument (SI) No 2005/2050 (available from www.opsi.gov.uk). The order requires contracted-out schemes to offer survivor benefits to civil partners based on the same entitlement as widowers.
  • Make sure that employees know that these changes have taken place and know how to claim benefits available to then or their civil partner
  • Be aware that same-sex couples in certain overseas relationships may automatically be treated as civil partners in the UK, for example a same-sex couple married in the Netherlands, or a same-sex couple who have formed a civil union in the US state of Vermont. More information on overseas schemes recognised as civil partnership in the UK can be found at www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/civilpartnership.htm