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AIDS in the Workplace

April 13, 2006

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AIDS has become a workplace issue because some employers and employees fear that this fatal disease can be transmitted in the workplace. Additionally, employees who have AIDS fear that they will lose their job, benefits, friends, and more. Employers should worry about the health and peace of mind of all employees.

Keep in mind that you can't segregate or penalize individuals with AIDS, or you risk running afoul of civil rights laws or the Americans with Disabilities Act. You may feel that you are caught between two opposing forces — employees who are demanding protection and your inability to react as employees want.

Since AIDS has become a workplace issue, other medical conditions, such as Hepatitis B virus (HBV), have also raised workplace concerns.

Facts about AIDS. There is a tremendous amount of literature available concerning AIDS; however, the basic facts are as follows:

• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a serious illness that harms the body's disease-fighting immune system and, sometimes, the nervous system. A virus called Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is found in people who have AIDS. Those infected with the virus may remain well for an indefinite period after being infected with HIV and show no signs of infection.
• AIDS cannot be transmitted by casual contact.
• There is no risk of acquiring the disease from workplace activities in most workplaces.
• Safety precautions should be taken in occupations where exposure to contaminated blood is possible.
• Unless there is a work-related reason, you should maintain the employee's confidentiality and not tell other employees that he or she has AIDS.
• Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, or joint labor-management committees from discriminating against individuals with AIDS, AIDS-related complex, and both symptomatic and asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals with respect to:
  • job application procedures
  • promotions
  • discharge
  • training
  • employment compensation
  • other terms and conditions of employment

Group medical plans must cover treatment and care of AIDS or AIDS-related conditions in the same way as other illnesses.

Dealing effectively with AIDS in the workplace requires that you understand:

• your legal duties to employees who have AIDS
• safety precautions you must take
• controlling the cost of AIDS
• creating a policy to address AIDS
• understanding how AIDS affects specific industries such as health care, food service, heavy industry, and personal services (massage therapists, hairdressers, cosmetologists)

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