Disclosure at work - question for UK based people

[markabz21]

Hi there everyone,

I have a question regarding disclosing HIV status at work. I started with my firm in September 2008 and filled in all the usual occupational health forms and did a medical. I was then diagnosed with HIV and Hepatitis in August 2010 and didnt report this to my employer. Do I need to disclose this to my employer from a legal point of view?

Also on Friday everyone in my office was handed new health questionnaires from occupational health. Apparently my firm outsources occupational health and a new firm had just won the contract and because of Scottish data protection laws the old firm couldnt just pass the details on so everyone has to fill in the new health questionnaires again.

Also the new health questionnaires specifically asks about HIV and Hepatitis which the old form didnt. Plus I wasnt aware of my status when I filled in the old form. Do I need to be completely honest on this new form and disclose my HIV status to my firm? It does specifically ask about HIV and if I dont mention it would I be in breach of my employment contract? Plus if I do disclose would my line manager find out? I would be less worried about disclosure if my health details just remained in a confidential file that no one has access to but i dont want the members of my team to find out; or even my manager.

Also one further question is I currently receive free medical insurance and free life insurance through my firm. If I do disclose my HIV status would I loose entitlement to these extra benefits?

Thanks for any advice. I am not sure who I should speak to within my firm and im worried about people in my team finding out. I know its not a shameful thing to have HIV but Im just not ready for people to find out just yet.

Mark

[Assurbanipal]

Just to be clear, you are working in Scotland?  I'd suggest you might be best off getting advice from someone who is familiar with employment law there. 

If you don't have a starting point to find someone to talk to you might perhaps begin with the Terrence Higgins Trust -- contact info is here http://www.tht.org.uk/howwecanhelpyou/needhelpnow/thtdirect/

Best to you
A

[anniebc]

If you are working in Scotland here is another site for you to try, it also has a link to the Terrence Higgins Trust that Assurbanipa refered to..this may or may not, but it's worth a look.

http://www.hivscotland.com/about-hiv/know-someone-with-hiv/employers/

Aroha
Jan

[Ann]

Hi Mark. I'm not sure if the law differs in Scotland, but in the UK you are protected under the Disability and the Equality Act 2010 from the point of diagnosis with hiv and/or hep C.

Another useful site is The Government Equalities Office.

The Scotland Office website returns quite a few links when you search for "discrimination".

Please also check out the Equality and Human Rights Commission website.

The Directgov site lists the following help-line for people living in Scotland who have questions about their possibly discriminatory situation - they may be a good starting point once you've read through the links I've given you above. If you do that first, you may have a better idea of what questions, exactly, to ask.

Email:scotland@equalityhumanrights.com
Telephone: 0845 604 5510
Textphone: 0845 604 5520
Fax: 0845 604 5530

To be honest, I'm not sure that asking about your hiv and/or hep C status is legal. I'm pretty sure it isn't, but I could be wrong.

Good luck and please come back to tell us how you get on.

Ann

[markabz21]

Thanks I will check out all those links. Also I was infected with Hepatatis B and its now completely cured. Im not sure whether or not i still need to disclose this as the form asks if you have ever been exposed to the hepatits virus but doesnt make any difference between if your still infected or cured.

I will arrange an appointment with HR and see if I need to disclose anything or if I have the option of not disclosing if I dont want to. At the moment I think its best not to disclose as my health has no indication on my ability to do my job well and could just make thing complicated if i disclose.

But im going to speak with HR anyway and see what they say. I also found that because I was not aware of my disgnosis at the time I signed the staff medical and life insurance forms then I will not loose these benefits which is a bonus i guess.

[Ann]

I will arrange an appointment with HR and see if I need to disclose anything or if I have the option of not disclosing if I dont want to.

But im going to speak with HR anyway and see what they say.

I would urge you to read up on your rights in those links I gave you before discussing any of this with HR. You may find that the HR department doesn't know as much about the current law as they should particularly when it comes to hiv and hep issues. Again, the Scottish Equality and Human Rights help-line may be your best place to start asking questions.

[lost_boy]

Hey Mark, check your PM's... I'm in a similar-ish situation!