Labour specialist spells out the deal for recovering Aids patients

Anti-retrovirals see terminally ill returning to work ED RICHARDSON
GOVERNMENT’S roll-
out of anti-retroviral treatment for Aids is having an unforeseen consequence – employees who were expected to die are returning to work. Port Elizabeth labour specialist Howard Warneke says the question of how employers should deal with employees with HIV/AIDS who stop work because they are apparently terminally ill, and who then, after a period of absence and treatment with antiretroviral medication, recover to the extent that they are again able to return to work is extremely difficult. “While this is clearly a complex and highly emotive issue which needs to be handled with much sensitivity and due regard for the specific circumstances of each case, the following comments should be helpful when formulating guidelines. “Firstly, it is important to bear in mind that employees suffering from HIV/AIDS may not be discriminated against, and must be treated in exactly the same way as employees with any other health problem. “It is advisable that every employer formulates a policy and procedure for dealing with incapacitated employees. This document must comply with the guidelines set out in Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Act,” he says. In summary, these guidelines require that the employer conduct an investigation into the degree and extent of the incapacity. The employee assisted by a shop steward or fellow employee must be allowed to participate in this investigation. Dismissal should be applied only as a last resort when no other alternative is available. Alternatives would include, for example, hiring a temporary replacement, placing the employee in a different job, or adapting the employee’s duties to accommodate his incapacity. The availability of antiretroviral drugs is clearly a factor which must be taken into account
when determining the extent to which HIV/AIDS infected employees will have the capacity to perform their functions into the future, and this aspect should be canvassed during the investigation, says Warneke.