Telling your employer

As a general rule, employers do not need to know about your HIV status.

There's no law that imposes an obligation on an employee (or a prospective employee) to provide specific information on health. But there is also no law to stop an employer from asking such questions.

An exception to the above applies if you work in healthcare. If your role involves performing exposure-prone procedures, you are obliged to inform your employer. However this does not necessarily mean that you will be unable to do the job. See disclosure and job offers.

The Equality Act 2010 states that it is illegal for employers to ask health related questions or send out health questionnaires at the application stage. They can only do this after you have been offered a job. If the job offer is then withdrawn because you disclose your HIV, you may have a good cause to argue this is disability discrimination.

Most employers do not send out pre-employment questionnaires but if your application requests this information please contact THT Direct for further advice.

Once you have been offered a job, a health questionnaire should be sent out to you, and then sent directly to an occupational health assessor rather than your employer and so any information will be kept confidential.

The questionnaire may ask if you have a disability or may ask if you have a long term health condition.

In order to answer this question you will need to consider the following:

• If you state you do not have a long term health condition and then are later found out, you could be disciplined or lose the job because you have breached of the mutual trust between employer and employee which is implied in a job contract.
• Your completed health questionnaire will be sent to an occupational health assessor not your immediate employer.
• You HIV status is classed as sensitive personal information, and in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 your employer has a duty of care to keep this information confidential. It cannot be passed on to anyone without your consent.
• If you state on your questionnaire that you have HIV or a disability this cannot result in your job offer being withdrawn, only a process called the occupational health assessment. If your job offer is withdrawn at this point, this is a breach of the Equality Act 2010 and your prospective employer may be discriminating against you. If this does happen to you please contact THT Direct.

Occupational health is trained to know the Equality Act and will be well aware that you are protected from discrimination. They operate separately from your employer.

After your medical form is received the occupational assessor may call you in for an interview to discuss any reasonable adjustments that you many need to enable you to do your work as a disabled person. This could be a minor adjustment such as regular time off to see your consultant, or more complex such as reduced working hours.

The occupational health assessor will then inform you employer ONLY of the fact that you have a disability covered by the Equality Act, and the particular adjustment needed (if any).

Under the legislation your employer then has a legal duty to consider making this adjustment. If at this point you have any difficulties with your employer please contact THT Direct for further advice and assistance.

This process needs to occur in order for you to be protected by the Equality Act.

If you work in health care the occupational health procedure will be broadly the same, but will include an assessment for the risk of transmission. If there a risk of transmission is established, your job offer may be withdrawn or you may be offered another role.

However in most medical roles as long as what are known as 'universal' health and safety precautions are taken there is no risk of transmission. All healthcare professionals take universal precautions every time they deal with patients, such as gloves and protective clothing.

The National AIDS Trust booklet giving advice for job applicants living with HIV is essential reading for anyone with HIV going back into employment. There is also a guide for employers on Recruitment and HIV.

The Health & Safety Executive booklet Blood-borne viruses in the workplace gives guidance for health care professionals and employers