Fedweek

OPM has finalized rules making federal employees with same-sex spouses eligible to use Family and Emergency Medical Leave Act leave under the same policies as for opposite-sex spouses. OPM has applied that policy since a 2013 Supreme Court decision overturning a law that had defined marriage for federal benefits purposes as being only between opposite sexes; the new rules formalize that policy and bring the federal employment rules in line with Labor Department rules for the private sector. In comments on the final rules, OPM further clarified that policies applying to opposite-sex common law marriages also apply to same-sex common law marriages.