Disability Discrimination Act | Ensuring Positive Futures

Disability Discrimination Act 2005

Did you know that as from December 2005 the DDA was extended to protect people living with HIV, from the point of diagnosis? This means that people living with HIV are protected from discrimination at work and can safely ask for ‘reasonable adjustments’ if they need them.

"The DRC is very happy to support this initiative which will work to ensure that people with HIV and AIDS are aware of their rights under the Disability Discrimination Act."

Tom Berry, Head of Campaigns and Marketing, Disability Rights Commission

Branch members being diagnosed as HIV positive may initially require more support from both you as a Trade Union representative and require advice/help in accessing outside support services. It is therefore important that you as a Branch representative understand how the Disability Discrimination Act applies to HIV in the workplace.

What are reasonable adjustments?

As a Trade Union representative you need to be aware of the types of reasonable adjustments that can be offered by an employer to any members diagnosed with HIV.

These can be from simply providing a cushion to sit on to adjusting working hours. As the DDA requires an employer to make these reasonable adjustments, it is important that Branch reps use this provision to assist members with HIV.

Reasonable adjustments:

Under the DDA people living with HIV are entitled to ask for reasonable adjustments to made in their working conditions. Often this could be something simple such as arranging flexible working hours to allow for hospital appointments

The side effects of starting medication can be more acute in the early stages as the person affected by HIV gets used to the treatment. So in this is when people need the most support. Taking medication at work will be necessary in some cases, so it might be an idea to negotiate flexible break times, and to ask for a space where people can take their medication in private.

Examples of Reasonable Adjustments include:

providing a rest room
providing a space where staff can take their medication in private
a designated fridge for medication
flexibile hours for hospital appointments

Ensure that provision for HIV is included in your workplace equal opportunities policy, and that it makes a clear statement in the policy about non-discrimination against people living with HIV.

This should also be reflected in the recruitment processes and policies.

What are some of the issues?

The law has been designed so that the employer has to make reasonable changes, but if they fail to do what is reasonable, an HIV positive person could take legal action against their employers for treating them unfairly.

To address the legal issues there are very few jobs not open to someone living with HIV and these are generally because of invasive procedures for example surgery or midwives.

Disclosure of a persons HIV status is not a legal requirement and any member who chooses to disclose their HIV status should feel confident that confidentiality around their status is respected as failure to do so will contravene the Data Protection Act 1998.

You could consider negotiating an agreement that members taking time off for treatments or another reason relating to their disability does not count towards disciplinary or inefficiency actions.

The DDA applies to all employers and everyone who provides a service to the public, the only exemption is the Armed Forces.