WATERLOO - Personnel consultants already are fielding inquiries from managers charged with ensuring that their companies comply with the Iowa Supreme Court's decision Friday that overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

State officials are uncertain how things will change.

"We don't know yet what changes, if any, would be needed," said Tom Alger, communications director for the Iowa Insurance Division.

Some personnel consultants already are busy taking questions from companies looking for guidance in dealing with the changes to come.

"I had a couple of phone calls Friday and more today on what changes they need to make," said John Monaghan, president of Waterloo-based Group Benefit Design Corp., an independent employee benefits consulting firm. "I've gotten a lot of the same questions."

So have other consultants.

"Now that there's a recognition of same-sex marriage from the courts, anywhere companies have been using the word 'spouse' in their policies, they'd have to look at that, because the word now also would apply to same-sex marriages," said Mary Hunter, human resources director for the Waukesha, Wis.-based management association company MRA, which has clients in Iowa, as well as Illinois and Wisconsin.

Companies also need to be mindful that not all of their policies will change, just because Iowa law has, Hunter said.

"Not everything is dictated just by state law," she said. "Federal law will dictate Social Security, for example. So, companies will have to look through all their benefits to see which are dictated by federal law and which ones come under state law."

The benefits one company offers may differ from those offered elsewhere; the important thing, Hunter said, is equal treatment.

"Companies aren't required to give benefits like bereavement, but some do and, many times, mention the word spouse; now, they want to be consistent anytime they mention that word."

Hunter also noted that some company benefits that cover the male-female domestic partnership also will have similar applicability to such same-sex arrangements.

Hunter said the firm expects to get calls from HR managers in Iowa seeking advice on how the Iowa Supreme Court decision might affect their benefit policies.

"Oftentimes, companies have really made these decisions already about including domestic partners, whether male -female not married or same sex," Hunter said.

But, she said, there are other issues, such as including the partner on invitations to company parties, as it would a traditional spouse.

"Another big one is family medical leave," Hunter said. "In Iowa, recognizing same-sex marriage means that those spouses would be covered, because federal law looks to state law in how marriage is defined."

Lisa Smith, president of LKS Career Connections Inc., Cedar Falls, said smaller-sized companies that have limited HR staff, likely will be contacting her for guidance.

"It's definitely going to change the dynamics of the work environment," said Smith, a personnel consultant who works with a lot of smaller-sized firms. "They already have been a protected class, but the same-sex marriage issue will become a part of that."

Contact Jim Offner at (319) 291-1598 or jim.offner@wcfcourier.com.