Xerox to Offer Coverage to Domestic Partners

Xerox Corp. said Friday it will offer employees up to $1,000 a year toward health-care insurance for domestic partners, becoming one of the largest companies to extend benefits for unmarried or same-sex couples.

Xerox employees will also be able to receive subsidies for first-time home buying and for health insurance for dependent relatives, such as a parent or grandparent, who live with them.

There are only about 100 private employers in the United States that offer some form of benefits to same-sex couples or unmarried heterosexual partners, according to a 1994 study by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

Others include Apple Computer Inc., Ben & Jerry’s, Levi Strauss & Co. and Lotus Development Corp.

The benefits will be available May 1 through the LifeCycle Assistance Program, introduced in 1993 as a way to defray expenses not covered by the company’s traditional benefit plans. The program first provided financial assistance for child care.

Under the new benefit, Xerox employees can receive up to $1,000 a year toward the purchase of insurance outside the company’s health plans for dependent household members.

The mortgage assistance benefit provides $2,000 or 2% of the home purchase price, whichever is less, Xerox said. First-time home buyers with at least five years service are eligible.

LifeCycle Assistance is counted as taxable income, and the lifetime maximum is $10,000. An employee can allocate up to $2,000 a year on some combination of child care, mortgage assistance and health insurance.