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Policy & Legal FAQs
- I am a manager of a restaurant and one of my chefs disclosed to me that he has HIV. I sent him home and now he is threatening to sue. What should I do?
Contact your legal representation for legal advice on the proper handling of this situation. In addition, you can contact the ADA Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers at 800-949-4232 for information about employment of individuals with disabilities. Remember, staff/workers with HIV and AIDS are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which protects the confidentiality of a worker's medical information.
The Business and Labor Resource Service provides the Manager's Kit and other educational materials to help you set up a workplace HIV/AIDS policy and to educate your staff/workers and managers.
You also can search the Resources and Services Database for other appropriate agencies and organizations in your area. Call 877-242-9760 for assistance.
- I am a supervisor at an electric plant and there is a rumor going around that one of the staff/workers has HIV/AIDS. Other staff/workers are threatening to quit if I don't tell them the truth. Should I confront the worker?
Unless the staff member/worker's HIV status affects his/her present ability to perform the job, he/she is under no legal obligation to disclose his/her status to you as his/her employer.
Because HIV cannot be transmitted through casual workplace contact, unless the staff member/worker is in a profession where it is likely that someone might be exposed to his/her blood, disclosure of his/her HIV status in the workplace is not required.
Your staff/workers could benefit from HIV/AIDS education to help them understand their lack of risk for HIV transmission in the workplace and what their own (and their co-workers') rights and responsibilities are. See question 1 under General FAQs for more information.
- Is it legal for a healthcare facility to inform a patient of a healthcare worker's HIV status?
As a general rule, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) guidelines, released in 2002, state, "ACOEM does not support notification of patients of a health care worker's serological status with respect to HIV unless an exposure has taken place." Further, they say, "Health care workers with HIV infection or AIDS enjoy the same protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act as do employees in other industries. However, because some health care workers perform medical procedures in which there is a small risk of viral transmission to patients, they are subject to additional guidelines."
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