inclusion: Accommodating spouses/partners :
Defining a partner

Tips and Tools

Domestic Partner Agreements

IITA Community Resources Center IRRI Family Services Center G&D initiatives to support CGIAR spouses/partners Direct appointments Consultancies Fellowships Appointment to advertized vacancies Couple appointments A guide for spouses/partners: what to ask

1 What constitutes a partner? How long should the two people have been together before they are considered to be partners? What should be the nature of their relationship?

2 In many cases, a Center might not wish to explore any of these issues, but simply take at face value:

• a statement from a job candidate that she/he has a partner, or
• a statement from a staff member that she/he now has a partner.

This means a formal statement from the candidate/staff member is all that is required for the partner to be eligible for the Center’s services/provisions to spouses and partners.

diversity alert
Eligibility for benefits
In some cases, a partner’s eligibility for spousal employment benefits will be restricted by the service or benefit provider, unless certain criteria determined by the provider are met.

DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS
3 Some countries have formal requirements for recognizing partners, particularly where this confers eligibility for state-provided benefits. For example, in the USA it is not uncommon for couples to register their “domestic partnership” with local authorities and to sign an affidavit to this effect with an employer.

4 One such domestic partnership affidavit requires partners to be two persons of the opposite or same sex who are currently (and who for a minimum specified period have been) involved exclusively with each other in a relationship that is the equivalent of marriage, where the following circumstances apply:

• the couple resides together and plans to do so indefinitely;
• the couple is not related by blood to a degree that would prohibit legal marriage;
• the couple shares living expenses, assets or liabilities to a significant degree;
• both members are at least the age of consent in the state/country where they reside; and
• neither is in partnership with anyone else.

Good practice
Define criteria for partners
G&D advocates the inclusion of partners in its spouse services (whether same-sex or opposite-sex) and therefore recommends that Centers develop clear criteria for the types of relationships that qualify as partners.

© CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program 2006