AIDS and Employment: Diagnosis and Prognosis
| Date | 01 March 1992 |
| Published date | 01 March 1992 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425459210013887 |
| Pages | 29-40 |
| Author | Derek Adam‐Smith,David Goss,Adele Sinclair,Gary Rees,Karen Meudell |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
AIDS and
Employment
29
AIDS and Employment:
Diagnosis and Prognosis
Derek Adam-Smith, David Goss, Adele Sinclair, Gary Rees
and Karen Meudell
Portsmouth Business
School,
Centre for AIDS and
Employment
Research,
UK
Despite an initial burst of interest in the mid-1980s the impact of AIDS on
business and employment practice in the UK has not continued to occupy the
columns of either the popular or the business and professional
press.
Although
many large organizations, especially those
in
the "caring professions" and local
authorities, have developed AIDS policies[l], this has not led to an open
discussion on the scale which has taken place in the USA.
While it could be argued that the high profile given to AIDS in the USA is
an over-reaction, this does seem
unwise.
In spite of recent downward revisions
of estimates for the heterosexual spread of
HIV in
the UK (e.g. [2]) there remains
a good deal of uncertainty over exact numbers and it seems safe to assume
that the spread of the virus will continue.
To
the extent that the vast majority
of those in the developed countries who will contract the HIV virus will be
in employment (at least
90
per cent according to Trebilcock[3]) this should alert
employers and business commentators to the necessity for
AIDS
to be treated
as an important human resource issue
[4].
Indeed, the US experience illustrates
the potential scale of the issue: the US Centre for Disease Control estimates
that one in 250 people in the USA is infected with HIV and that in
1991
AIDS-
related illness cost US industry more than $50 billion[5,6].
Much, therefore, is to be gained from the continued open discussion of AIDS
as an employment issue. Only in this way can ignorance, prejudice and
discrimination be countered through the wider dissemination of
models
of "good
practice" and a contribution to the prevention of the spread of the disease
initiated by encouraging effective workplace education.
To
encourage such a discussion this article examines the key contextual factors
which bear
on
organizational responses and provides
a
framework for the analysis
of
AIDS
policies. It concludes with some propositions relating to the practical
implications of different AIDS policy perspectives.
Contextual Factors
The initiative for the development of a workplace strategy concerning AIDS
will
ultimately rest
with
the management of the employing
organization.
However,
whether the initiative is taken as a proactive measure or as
a
reaction to pressure
from other parties is an important consideration. Pressures for
a
response may
arise from a number of sources but within the employment context two key
agencies may be identified. First, employees, either themselves or more likely
their representative bodies, may perceive aspects of AIDS as a legitimate Employee Relations, Vol. 14 No. 3,
1992.
pp. 29-40. © MCB University
Press 0142-5455
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