UGA will increase its offering of benefits to the domestic partners of its employees. Vision and dental insurance, so-called “soft” benefits, will be available to the registered domestic partners of benefits-eligible employees.
“The guidance from Chancellor Huckaby clearly allows us to move forward with the plan to provide soft benefits,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “These benefits, paid for entirely by the employees and without use of state funds, will be an important addition to the benefits offerings available to UGA employees.”
Earlier this year, GLOBES, an organization that serves UGA’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender faculty, staff and graduate students, asked the administration to offer the same level of domestic partnership benefits that Georgia State, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State offer.
However, to comply with current state law and policy, other domestic partner benefits such as health, life and accidental death insurance would have to be funded privately, according to Huckaby, who suggested that university officials work with the UGA Foundation to set up and administer any such plan.
“Given the guidance on providing a health care benefits package for domestic partners of university employees, it is less clear that we could do so in a way that would involve no state funds at all,” Adams said. “This matter will, unfortunately, require further study.”
