Publix to offer benefits to same sex couples

The Florida based Publix grocery store chain is offering employee insurance benefits to same-sex couples legally married in other states. The move impacts Alabama where Publix operates fifty eight stores. The Lakeland-based company told employees this week that beginning on New Year’s Day, Publix would expand coverage for its health, dental and vision benefit plans to associates married in any state where same-sex marriages are legal. Publix owns nearly two thousand grocery stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. The Miami Herald reports Publix will hold a 30-day enrollment period for same-sex married employees.