General Motors announced this week that
it will begin extending benefits to the spouses of gay employees.
The automobile giant said that it will
recognize all legal marriages in the United States for the purpose of
health care plans, pensions plans and savings plans.
“This decision is in line with GM's
effort to find, keep and grow the world's best talent and to offer
our employees policies and benefits that are competitive with many of
the largest and best-managed industrial companies in the U.S.,”
GM's Chief Diversity Officer Ken Barrett told The
Huffington Post in a statement.
According to General Motors' latest
annual report, the company employees more than 212,000 employees in
396 facilities on 6 continents.
Fourteen states plus the District of
Columbia currently allow same-sex nuptials.
General Motors is headquartered in
Detroit, Michigan, a state which does not allow gay and lesbian
couples to marry.
Recently, oil
giant Exxon announced a similar policy.