Which Brings Us To Our Next Question

Spousal employment.

What's an EFM to do?

According to DiploPundit, the FLO says that the answer to that question is seldom "work" (that is, for pay). Of the 10,000 or so EFMs going to post, 75% want to work, and only about a third of them get to. And the jobs they get? Well, I am sure that there are folks out there dying to be the CLO, but I wasn't one of them.

Of course, the situation I was in would be different today. As a same-sex partner of a diplomat, I wasn't entitled to EVEN APPLY for the CLO job until after all the EFMs at post had decided they didn't want it. And then I would get no preference over random ex-pats no associated with the mission and would likely be paid at the same rate as an FSN, which is often far lower than an American is paid for the same job at that post. I also wasn't entitled to a diplomatic passport and protections. So I left archaeology (a career I loved) and joined the service to be with the person I loved.

Plenty of folks can't or don't want to make that choice. Luckily they don't have to as often now.

I can't speak to what other folks have done, so I would really like for people to weigh in. What did you or your spouse do at post? Ryan and Lori's Exciting Adventures wondered how many folks choose posts based on spousal employment and how many leave the service for a lack of it. I wonder too, and I bet Ryan and Lori are correct in that the numbers are high. We live in a world where it is more common than not that both partners work, and many therefore take the duel household income hit of a salary cut and a sudden lack of spousal salary in order to serve the country. I wonder how many dedicated public servants leave because the cost is ultimately too high.

I do suspect those numbers would be hard to come by, since the Department does not count in its tally of attrition people who leave the service but stay in the employ of the Federal Government. So those folks who transition to Civil Service in the Department or who go to another agency aren't counted.

So what has your experience been? Have you been able to work and at what kind of work. If not, how has the absense of your salary affected your family?

AOSL: Acronyms as a Second Language

Acronyms are a fact of Foreign Service life. Really, they are the first second language you learn at FSI, long before you get language training before heading to post. And like learning other languages, it takes a while for you to absorbe it and make it feel natural to you.

I had forgotten that feeling. I have long since lost the ability to speak WITHOUT acroymns. But FSO Spouse over at EF'M: The Life of a Foreign Service Spouse is currently going through that trial by fire, though I suspect that it may be more difficult for him as a spouse than it is for employees. We are sort of on an acronym immersion tour at FSI...

Anyway, he has drafted a very handy chart for you to begin learning FS acronyms. They are funny before you join the service, and hysterical after!

Speaking of EFMs, DiploLife noted today some resources for Trailing Spouses, including a Trailing Spouse Network group on LinkedIn with 198 members, that might be a good resource for networking overseas. DiploLife also mentions Ex-Pat Blog, which lists country related tips, blogs, discussions and individuals.

The changes are official

Here is the ALDAC regarding the same-sex partner benefits Secretary Clinton announced last week:

R 262320Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

UNCLAS STATE 066740

FROM U/S KENNEDY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AMGT, APER
SUBJECT: Implementing Benefits for Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Foreign Service Employees Serving Abroad


Ref: State 063819
1. Last Thursday, the Secretary announced that the Department is extending the full range of legally available benefits to same-sex domestic partners of members of the Foreign Service sent to serve abroad. I am pleased to advise that the implementing changes to the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) will be effective for the Department of State on June 26, 2009. If other agencies decide to implement these changes as well, they may choose the same date or any subsequent date.

2. The interim changes to the FAM are available on line at http://hrweb.hr.state.gov/prd/hrweb/dg/pc/same_sex_domestic_partners.cfm. We expect them to be published in final within 30 days, following interagency review. We encourage you to review them to gain a fuller understanding of the benefits extended in reftel.

3. To obtain benefits for their same-sex domestic partners, employees must:

(1) file an affidavit of eligibility for benefits and obligations (also available at http://hrweb.hr.state.gov/prd/hrweb/dg/pc/same_sex_domes
tic_partners.cfm) and,
(2) update their OF-126(Residency and Dependency Report, see para 6). Please read and consider the affidavit carefully before signing.

4. Domestic partners must also comply with the same security requirements and undergo the same background review as spouses. Domestic partners must also have a valid medical clearance for the post of assignment. Those already at post should follow the procedures for a newly acquired dependent - they will be given access to the overseas health unit for up to 90 days pending completion of their medical clearance. It is important to note that domestic partners must have health insurance as the Department acts only as a secondary payer in event of overseas hospitalization.

5. As per the FAM regulations, the affidavit must affirm, among other things, that the employee and his/her domestic partner:

(a) are each other's sole domestic partner and intend to remain committed to one another indefinitely;
(b) have a common residence, and intend to continue the arrangement;
(c) are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract;
(d) share responsibility for a significant measure of each other's common welfare and financial obligations;
(e) are not married to, joined in civil union with, or domestic partners with anyone else; and
(f) are same-sex domestic partners, and not related in a way that would prohibit legal marriage in the State in which we reside.

6. For State employees, both documents should be directed to your Assignment Technician in HR/EX. The OF-126 must be filed electronically. An updated version is available to each employee through his/her GEMS account on HR Online. The signed affidavit can be e-mailed to your assignment technician at "HR-EX-ASU" on the Global Address List or faxed to 202-663-0449. You may file these forms immediately.

7. Employees of other foreign affairs agencies should consult their Human Resources Office for filing instructions. We offer that the OF-0126, available on the Department of State's intranet, might be amended with a pen-and-ink change to add "domestic partner" in the box requesting "relationship".

8. Additional instructions and guidance will be issued in the coming days on specific benefits. In addition, while we are willing to offer diplomatic and official passports to eligible US citizen domestic partners, diplomatic visas and work eligibility for them depends upon host governments. In this regard, bilateral work agreements may have to be renegotiated.

9. As we proceed to implement this important initiative, we welcome any suggestions you may have for improvement.

10. Minimize considered.
CLINTON

100 Days In, Still No Place At The Table

I have a confession. This blog suffers when I am thinking of leaving the Department and going back to archaeology. And I think of leaving the Department mostly when I am frustrated by the excruciatingly slow progress the Department makes in terms of addressing the inequities facing LGBT Foreign Service families.

This is made worse, not better, by having felt there was hope for change.

On Friday, the Secretary marked her 100th day with the Foreign Affairs Day celebration and Memorial commemoration. Now I know that the 100 days mantra is just a media creation. I get that. But really, it is a means to look at where priorities are in any administration. What do you care about enough to fix immediately.

Honestly, naively, I thought and hoped that the Secretary cared enough about her LGBT employees to do something quickly. We were on the "fast track," she said. She was presented with a letter signed by 2,200 of the foreign affairs community and with documents outlining what steps she could take with a mere stroke of the pen. Steps that weren't taken in the past only because a lack of political will, not because the steps were all that difficult. Recommendations for what she could do were described as being "on her desk" in late March. She has been such a long-time friend to the LGBT community that I really believed that change was imminent. That we had seen the last summer transfer season where gay and lesbian employees would be forced to pay to bring their partner to post so that the partner could live the life of second-class citizenship that is the Member of Household's lot. That the days of the Department paying for the shipment of a pet but not the travel of a partner were over.

But they are not.

One hundred days in and we still do not have a place at the table. One hundred days in and we are still, despite the meetings, the good words, the promise that she knew this was an issue of workplace fairness, second-class employees with second-class spouses. We still receive less pay for the same work than do our heterosexual colleagues, 63% of whom said in a recent survey that they support equal rights for same-sex spouses.

I am still waiting. We are still waiting. We are hoping our service will soon be as valued as our heterosexual colleagues' service. And in the meantime, I, and perhaps the other 700 or so people who have spouses who are only Members of Household and not eligible family members, are left contemplating how long they can remain in a job that forces them to choose their career over their family. You can read about the frustration facing LGBT families in "Speaking Out" in this month's issue of the Foreign Service Journal.

I hope we don't have to wait much longer.

But MOHs Need Not Apply

Great Diversions mentions the good news that the State Department finally got some money to hire more diplomats than the rate of attrition:

The Department of State finally received a little extra funding that can be used toward hiring. A State cable (or telegram…yes…we still use telegrams) came out recently announcing how the Department will use some of the funds it received from the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008. The good news, especially if you’re looking to join the Foreign Service, is that some of that money will be used to hire 140 new Officers above attrition rates.

This increase in hiring represents the first increase over attrition in FSO generalists since 2004. In an age where even the Secretary of Defense says we need to hire more diplomats, this comes as welcome news and hopefully is a sign of more money in the future. In addition to hiring more FSOs, some of the money will be used to hire over 100 Eligible Family Members (the spouses and adults children of diplomats overseas) into new positions.

Of course, Members of Household don't count as Eligible Family Members. So none of those 100 jobs will be open to same-sex partners of diplomats. In fact, same-sex partners of diplomats when applying for any job at a consulate or embassy where their partner is serving must first allow EFMs to apply and if there is no qualified EFM available, must compete with every other ex-pat in the community. Even though they are in country because their partner is serving the country, something not true of most ex-pats.

Nothing New Here

We got a new cable today on employment of Eligible Family Members (EFMs) and Members of Household. Here is the pertinent paragragh:

"8. If no U.S. Citizen EFMs apply, or if none is fully qualified after the HR eligibility and qualifications review and interview with the supervisor, then HR may staff the position with a U.S. Citizen Member of Household(MOH) or other Ordinarily Resident U.S. Citizen eligibleto obtain the required security clearance. HR may staff the position for a fixed term of two years, or the maximum amount of time local labor law allows termination without cause (without a reason). At the end of the fixed-termposition, HR may readvertise the position open only to USEFMs."

So basically this means that Members of Household (same-sex partners, unmarried opposite sex partners, adult children of the employee, etc) will continue to not be allowed to apply for any job which a qualifed EFM wants, even if the MOH is MORE qualified. And they will be given NO PREFERENCE over ordinary Americans living in the country, even though they are at post not because they wanted to live somewhere other than America but because their partner (and them by extension) is serving the country. And bear in mind that folks living overseas with the FS are on a government salary, so often these kinds of jobs make a huge difference in terms of the income of a family (gay or straight).

Just one more way that gays and lesbians are treated as less than their straight collegues even in the service to the country.