Executive Order

Executive Order  No. 340: Providing for non-discriminatory benefit policies for employees of the Commonwealth

Date: 09/23/1992
Issuer: William F. Weld
Mass Register: No. 697

Table of Contents

WHEREAS, Chapter 151B of the Massachusetts General Laws establishes the obligation of the Commonwealth to protect its citizens from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth recognizes its responsibility to take measures to ensure that its official employment policies are in harmony with the established obligations of Chapter 151B;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, William F. Weld, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Supreme Executive Magistrate, do hereby order as follows:

1. For purposes of this executive order, "relationship of mutual support" means a relationship between two individuals, each unmarried, and competent to contract, characterized by mutual caring and emotional support; an agreement to share basic living expenses; a sharing of living quarters and an intent to do so indefinitely; a mutual assumption of responsibility for each other's welfare; and a mutual expectation that the relationship is exclusive and will endure over time.

2. The Department of Personnel Administration shall, no later than November 1, 1992, promulgate such regulations and policies as are necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the benefits provided to employees under its jurisdiction. Benefits shall include the following:

a. An employee of the Commonwealth shall be entitled to a maximum of four calendar days of paid "bereavement" leave, upon the death of a family member or of a person with whom the employee has a relationship of mutual support.

b. An employee of the Commonwealth shall be allowed to use up to 10 days of accrued sick leave in the event of the serious illness of a family member or of a person with whom the employee has a relationship of mutual support.

3. An employee of the Commonwealth claiming leave benefits on account of the illness or death of a person with whom the employee has a relationship of mutual support must, as a condition of receiving such leave benefits, certify to the Department of Personnel Administration the existence of his or her relationship of mutual support.

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston this 23rd day of September in the year of our lord one thousand nine hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventeenth.

William F. Weld, Governor

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Michael Joseph Connolly

Secretary of the Commonwealth

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