Feds To Expand Leave Policy To Include Caring For Kids Of Same-Sex Partners

Federal employees will soon be allowed to take medical leave to care for the kids of their same-sex partners.

The policy will be set forth in a ruling to be issued Wednesday by the Labor Department’s wage and hour division, the officials said. Under a 1993 law, people who work for a company with 50 or more employees are generally entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or for a spouse, son or daughter with “a serious health condition.” The new ruling indicates that an employee in a same-sex relationship can qualify for leave to care for the child of his or her partner, even if the worker has not legally adopted the child. The ruling, in a formal opinion letter, tackles a question not explicitly addressed in the 1993 law. It is one of many actions taken by the Obama administration to respond to the concerns of gay men and lesbians within the constraints of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman as husband and wife

The new policy was developed with the help of the Human Rights Campaign.