Marriage Counsel

Employers must decide if they have the support structure in place to allow married couple policies to flourish, according to Debbi Milner, president and CEO of Jade Systems in New York.

As for the couples themselves, "Either they know they can work together and would love it, or they can never, ever work together," she adds.

Ground rules are important, says Ellen Walsh, who works at Art Technology Group in Cambridge, Mass., with her husband. She offers the following advice for working with your spouse:

Make sure your company will work with you on issues like shared vacations.

Establish terms with your spouse before you start working together. "We agreed that because I was here first, if it didn't work out, he would likely be the one to look for another job," Walsh says.

Most important, you need to have a strong marriage to make the employment situation work. "You cannot bring your home issues to work with you," she explains.

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