FAQ - AIDS In The Workplace

 

Q.   My Company is trying to determine how to handle AIDS in the workplace.   Can you provide me with a sample policy regarding AIDS in the workplace and tell me what legislation I should be referring to in order to ensure we are not accused of discrimination?

 

A.   AIDS in the workplace is a complicated issue, and is covered by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).   You cannot discriminate against an individual who has AIDS or HIV.   For more information regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act you can visit the following Department of Justice link:

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.

     

You can use the following AIDS policy as a template for developing your own.   Keep in mind that state legislation should always be consulted to ensure compliance.

 

POLICY: AIDS/HIV

POLICY #: [Insert Number]

EFFECITIVE DATE:   [Insert Date]

PERTAINS TO:   All Employees

[Company Name] is an organization that strives to create a work place free from discrimination/harassment of individual infected with AIDS or HIV.  

 

MEDICAL INFORMATION

 [Company Name] provides medical information to bring awareness and education into the organization.   We hope to address any fears employees may have regarding contact with a worker with HIV or AIDS

 

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.   Most people who have HIV will eventually develop AIDS, a disease that weakens the immune system and renders a person´s body unable to protect itself against infections.   The time elapsed between infection with HIV and development of full-blown AIDS can vary from a few years to over 15 years, though, in a few cases, an HIV-infected person will not develop AIDS at all.

 

HIV is transmitted only through direct, intimate contact with infected bodily fluids.   Sexual contact with an infected person, using infected hypodermic needles, receiving infected bodily fluids during a medical procedure (or the use of infected instruments during a medical procedure), the transmission of the virus from a pregnant mother to her child, and drinking the breast milk of an infected woman are ways in which a person may contract the virus.  

 

People do not contract the virus by using the same restroom facilities, sharing a phone, breathing the same air, working at the same terminal, sharing a drinking cup or cigarette, kissing, hugging, or shaking hands.   In other words, working with an infected person poses no significant threat to uninfected employees.

 

EMPLOYEE RIGHTS and CONFIDENTIALITY

The Federal Americans with Disabilities Act protects persons with HIV or AIDS, as do many state laws.   Employees do not have any obligation to disclose their HIV or AIDS condition to their employers.   Should an employee, however, need reasonable accommodations as a result of his/her condition, s/he must inform the employer.   In such a case, [Company Name] will act according to a need-to-know basis: only those who must know about the employee´s HIV/AIDS condition will be notified about it.  

 

Like any other employee with a disability, employees with HIV or AIDS are entitled to reasonable accommodations to fulfill their jobs.   Such accommodations may include transfers, reduction of duties, etc.   A physician statement that verifies both the employee´s ability to work as well as the need for the specific accommodation must accompany a request for that accommodation.   [Company Name] will then review the request and make a final decision, and we reserve the right to request a second medical opinion from a physician of our choice.   In addition, employees with HIV or AIDS are entitled to leaves and intermittent leaves in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  

 

If a healthy employee refuses to work with an employee with HIV or AIDS, that employee will be granted reasonable accommodation (such as a transfer) if s/he can provide a physician statement which asserts that such an accommodation is medically necessary.   [Company Name] reserves the right to request a second medical opinion from a physician of our choice.

 

Harassment of HIV or AIDS infected employees will not be tolerated.   Such acts will result in appropriate disciplinary action.