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Thread: AIDS and employment

  1. #1
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    AIDS and employment

    I was wondering if anyone has a view on employment issues around people infected with AIDS?

    What got me thinking was this story.
    A union representing South African soldiers is to take the country's armed forces to court on Thursday over alleged discrimination against HIV-infected personnel, the union said on Wednesday.

    The South African Security Forces' Union (Sasfu) accuses the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) of discriminating against HIV-infected people by refusing them employment, promotion or deployment to foreign posts.

    "They have got a policy of mandatory testing. Being HIV-negative is a pre-requisite to gain employment in the SANDF," said Sasfu deputy president Charles Jacobs.

    He said after being employed, members of the military had to undergo mandatory HIV testing once a year during a health assessment, and every time they applied for a promotion or deployment overseas.

    Jacobs said South Africa was the only country in the world whose military operated under these "unconstitutional" policies.

    With five-and-a-half million HIV infections in a population of 48-million, South Africa has one of the world's worst Aids problems, and according to Khumalo up to 35% of defence-force personnel were infected in 2004.
    full story from M&G here
    It looks like one of those fuzzy issues to me with no clear-cut answer. It's all very well saying the employee (or prospective employee) should not be discriminated against, but poor health of an employee can prejudice the employer too.

    What am I missing here?

  2. #2
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
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    Surely it just doesn't make logical sense to employ someone in the SANDF who is potentially unhealthy? They also don't employ pilots with bad vision - is that discrimination? I suppose it is really a question of how the health issue affects your ability to carry out your job.
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    Diamond Member wynn's Avatar
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    Yes they dont employ people who:-
    are too fat
    are too short
    are amputees
    are disabled
    are physically unfit
    are mentally challenged
    etc. etc.

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