Employers should be aware that they may need to adjust their human resources, benefits and personnel policies in accordance with the new same-sex marriage law in Maine, since at this point it will go into effect later this year.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Maine and likely can be performed there beginning in September, after Gov. John Baldacci (D) on May 6 signed a bill the state Senate approved earlier that day.

The new law allows civil marriages but does not require churches to perform or recognize same-sex marriage. It takes effect 90 days after the current session of the legislature ends; this likely means it will go into effect in mid-September.

The measure could be overturned, however. Opponents of the new law have until mid-August to secure an amount of registered voters' signatures equal to10 percent of the number who voted in the last gubernatorial election. If they gather the necessary 55,087 signatures, the law will go on the ballot either in November 2009 or June 2010.

Across the state line, the New Hampshire legislature has approved a bill that would make same-sex marriage legal there. Gov. John Lynch (D) has not yet acted on it.

What This Means for Employers
In addition to adjusting various policies, employers need to prepare for complicated tax treatment of benefits they provide to employees' same-sex spouses. Federal law and tax regulations do not recognize members of the same sex as spouses; therefore, employees with same-sex spouses will have to pay federal taxes on the value of benefits provided to their spouses. The tax treatment of those benefits under the laws and regulations of a state where same-sex marriage is legal, however, will be different from federal treatment.

More information on same-sex marriage, as well as civil unions and domestic partnerships, is available in Thompson Publishing Group's Domestic Partner Benefits: An Employer's Guide.