Thursday, 12 December 2013, 11:22
The European Union's highest court has ruled that in EU countries where gay couples can't marry, they must get the same benefits as married people if they enter into civil partnerships.
The EU Court of Justice ruled Thursday in the case of Frederic Hay, a French bank worker who was denied the extra leave and bonuses given to married employees after he entered into a civil pact with his male partner. At the time, French law restricted marriage to people of different sexes.
The European Court called Hay's situation "direct discrimination based on sexual orientation." French law and the bank's collective bargaining agreement have changed since. But a court spokesman said Thursday's ruling now sets an EU-wide standard.
The benefits in question are only those which employers grant their employees.
ReplyDeleteThe Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on 12 December 2013 that “Employees who enter into a civil partnership with a partner of the same sex must be granted the same benefits as those granted to their colleagues upon their marriage, where marriage is not possible for homosexual couples. The refusal to grant them those benefits constitutes direct discrimination based on sexual orientation” (quoted from the press release of the European Union).
By "employers" is meant governments, businesses, or private persons, and by “civil partnership” is also meant civil union, domestic partnership, and registered partnership.
David Gold