Nissan offering same-sex insurance benefits to Tennessee employees

[MonteSano]

Nissan plans to start offering health insurance benefits for same-sex domestic partners it employs in Tennessee, a spokeswoman said.

The company said it wanted one standard plan for its 16,000 employees in the United States, which includes about 6,800 at its Smyrna assembly plant, said Vicki Smith, a spokeswoman for Nissan North America. Nissan employees who previously worked in California at the North America headquarters were already offered coverage for legally recognized domestic partners, a requirement of state law there.

Nissan’s North American headquarters, which includes about 1,200 employees, recently relocated to Nashville. The company plans to open a new headquarters building in Williamson County in two years.

Nissan announced its decision at a time when Tennessee voters will decide if they want a same-sex marriage ban to be added to the state constitution. The trend for companies offering health insurance benefits to same-sex partners has increased from 7 percent in 2000 to 13 percent this year, according to annual surveys of about 950 companies conducted by Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm based in Chicago.


http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061020/BUSINESS01/61020006