Barclays Offers Tax Offset to Gay Workers

One of Britain's largest banks announced Friday that it will reimburse its U.S. employees for the federal taxes they pay on health benefits for their domestic partners.

Barclays PLC joins a handful of other companies, including Google, in offsetting the extra federal tax payments that gay workers in state-sanctioned same-sex marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships must pay because their relationships are not recognized by the federal government. Workers in heterosexual marriages are not subject to the same tax penalties.

The plan will go into effect January 1, according to a press release.