March 1991

Burlington Company Recognizes Domestic Partners

By Cheri Goldstein

Gardener’s Supply, a Burlington
company, has expanded its company bene-
fits package to include domestic partner-
ships.

Gardener's Supply has defined a do-
mestic partner as the gay, lesbian, or
straight partner of an employee who has
been residing with that employee for at
least ninety days. The company will help
pay for the coverage of any partner not
currently covered by an employer else-
where.

The downside to this is that the partner
needs to find a health insurer for himself or
herself. After putting the policy out for
bids, Gardener's Supply was unable to find
an insurer who was able to make insuring a
domestic partner financially feasible.

All the same, the company agreed to
pay a portion of the health insurance pre-
mium for the partner. This $70.50 per
month is the same amount paid for a spouse
on the regular policy. The partner needs to

obtain his or her own individual policy and
show proof of insurance and proof of pre-
mium payment for Gardener's Supply to
P3)’-

A $50 dental and optical benefit has
also been extended to domestic partners of
employees. This benefit had been extended
to spouses of employees in the past.

Bereavement leave has also been ex-
panded to include the employee's partner
as a family member, regardless of whether
they are living together.

The inclusion of domestic partner-
ships was prompted when Margaret War-
ing became fed up with her inability to get
insurance coverage for her partner. She
asked Douglas Graver, another employee,
to join her in asking the management to
broaden the benefits.

“We talked about these needs in a very
honest and open way with the management.
We felt that the benefit structure was unfair
in not recognizing our partners,” said
Graver. “We were going in expecting that

there could be a fight. It was almost anticli-
mactic how reasonable they (the manage-
ment) were.”

Other employees were not very sur-
prised by the decision. “This company has
been so good about human rights and treat-
ing its employees fairly. Being fair is real
important here,” said one pleased em-
ployee.

Pam Gardner of the Gardener's Supply
personnel department explained that the
company hopes “to continue to create a
well-rounded benefits package. We strive
to have benefits that will address the needs
of the population that works for us, and that
population includes lesbians, gay men, and
straight unmarried partners.”

Gardner further stated, “We have tried
to create a work environment here where
we can encourage quality people to be our
employees.”

Gardener's Supply employs 153
people in Vermont. The company has been
in operation since 1982.

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