One of the followers of this blog page had asked that I address the right of people living with HIV/AIDS in the workplace. His specific question was that “If an employee is diagnosed to be HIV positive, should his or her employment be determined on the basis of risk to other employees, the psychological effects of such discovery on the employee himself and the effect of such knowledge to the customers?” On probing further, he said his company operates in the hospitality and catering sub-sector and the staff in question works in the kitchen as a Kitchen Assistant. Her duties involve supporting the chefs with menu preparation and sometimes with the cooking. According to him, the employee in most cases works with knives, graters and cooking utensils.

The fear expressed by this reader is understandable especially if we consider the sensitive nature of the job handled by the employee in question. However, without being sentimental I want us to examine the position of law, employment processes and some basic regulations that are needed in the workplace to protect the organization, its employees and the customers at large.

It is important to state here that International laws, conventions, and Acts of parliaments prohibit discrimination against people living with HIV in the workplace. This simply implies that an organization will be acting contrary to law if they denied employment to an applicant on the ground that such a person is HIV positive or sacked an employee on the notion that he or she is HIV positive. Click on the link below to continue reading https://askkayodemicah.com.ng/2019/11/hiv-and-aids-in-nigeria/