Civil Partnership Act 2004

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on the 5th December 2005. This allows same sex couples to have their relationship recognised in law giving them similar rights as married couples.

It has been unlawful to discriminate against marital status since the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Now civil partners who are
treated less favourably than a married person can claim sexual orientation discrimination.

The act will also make it unlawful for an employer to justify less favourable treatment of a civil partner compared with a spouse.

Civil partnerships must be registered to be accepted along the same lines as a marriage. From the 5th December 2005 all employers must extend any employment benefits provided to the spouse of a married employee to that of a civil partner. These can include private health care, life insurance, staff discounts and even invitations to company social events.

Civil partners also qualify for family-friendly rights such as maternity, paternity, parental, adoption leave (and pay) and also flexible working requests.

The act will also affect pension rights. A registered civil partner will be entitled to the pension benefits of the deceased partner in state, public sector and occupational pension schemes. As the new act could increase discrimination in the work place employers must try to minimise the risk by ensuring that their equal opportunities policy is updated as an employer can also be held vicariously liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees.