Educating your employees about AIDS makes good business sense. By educating yourself and employees now, you can greatly reduce the financial impact, work disruption and other effects that HIV/AIDS could have on your business.

Why should I be concerned about AIDS in my company?

The majority of people infected with HIV are between the ages of 20 and 45, and are currently employed. That could mean that someone you know or employ, or an employee's family member or close friend has HIV/AIDS.
As the owner or manager of a business, you know how important it is to be alert to conditions that affect your business, your employees and their families, your customers and your community.

As with any catastrophic epidemic, AIDS can affect business in many crucial ways. Dealing expeditiously with workplace disruptions from coworkers of an HIV-infected person (or an employee perceived as being HIV infected) can help prevent major problems.

HIV infection and AIDS can also affect your business in following ways:

• Higher insurance and health care costs
• Loss of productivity
• Customer concerns
• Employee morale
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Potential legal cost from discrimination or privacy suits
• Recruiting, screening, hiring, and training cost for a new employee
• Disability requirements
• Job accommodation
• Loss of highly trained, experienced and qualified personnel who may represent years of training and institutional memory
• Potential adverse public reactions
• Disruption of workplace when coworkers of someone with HIV do not know the facts about transmission and prevention

What can I do as an employer?

Educate yourself and your employees. Think through and plan in advance how you will deal with AIDS at your place of business. Early planning will help you avoid mistakes which could lead to a crisis. Contact the National AIDS Committee for more information and assistance.

• Plan ahead
• Develop an HIV/AIDS policy
• Train superiors and managers
• Educate yourself and employees, their families and the community

Developing an employee policy on HIV/AIDS

A sound policy clearly sets out how your organization will deal with the many complex challenges which the disease will present to your managers. It defines your company's position and practices as they relate to an employee with HIV.

In developing a policy for your organization, bear in mind an effective policy:

• Sets the foundation for your entire HIV/AIDS program
• Standardize your communication on HIV/AIDS
• Leads the way in setting standards for employee behavior
• Establishes consistency within the company
• Informs all employees where they can go for assistance and information
• Instructs supervisors on how to manage HIV/AIDS in their work group

Successful HIV/AIDS policies address and provide guides on:

• Compliance with the law
• Nondiscrimination
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Safety
• Acceptable Performance Standards
• Reasonable accommodation
• Coworkers accommodation
• Coworkers concerns
• Employee education

An effective work policy for HIV/AIDS should bring advantages such as:

• Protecting the human rights of a person affected with HIV/AIDS
• Provide a supportive work environment for persons with HIV/AIDS
• Remove the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS
• Avoid situations in which workers refuse to work with persons infected or suspected of being infected with HIV
• Protecting the company's investment in human resources
• Improving worker moral and enhancing worker/management relations

The 10 principles for the workplace

1. People with AIDS or HIV infection are entitled to the same rights, benefits, and opportunities as people with other serious or life-threatening illnesses.
2. Employment practices must, at a minimum, comply with the laws and regulation of the nation
3. Employment practices should be based on the scientific and epidemiological evidence that people with AIDS or HIV infection do not pose a risk of transmission of the virus to coworker through ordinary workplace contact.
4. The highest level of management should unequivocally endorse nondiscriminatory employment practices and education programs or information about AIDS
5. Management should communicate their policies and practices to workers in simple clear and unambiguous terms.
6. Management should provide employees with sensitive, accurate and up-to-date information about risk reduction in their personal lives.
7. Management and coworkers must protect the confidentiality of employees medical/insurance information
8. To prevent work discrimination and rejection by coworkers of an employee with AIDS or HIV-infection small business owners/managers should undertake education to all employees before such an incident occurs and as needed thereafter.
9. Management should not require HIV screening as part of the pre-employment or general workplace physical examinations.
10. In those special occupational settings where there may be a potential risk of exposure to HIV (for example in some health-care settings), management should provide specific, ongoing education and training, as well as the necessary equipment, to reinforce appropriate infection-control procedures and ensure that they are implemented.

Contact Addresses

Ms. Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd
Jamaica Employers Federation
2a Ruthven Road
Kingston 5
www.jamaicaemployers.com
Tel: (876) 926-6908
Fax:(876) 754-2132

Ms. Lilieth Harris
J.C.T.U.
1a Hope Blvd.
Kingston 6
Tel: (876) 977-3545/3861/(876) 927-2468
Fax: (876) 977-4575
Email: lvharris@cwjamaica.com