CHAPTER FIVE
5.6 Feasibility and Sustainability of Policy
belongs to top management and 3 from semor management. Most of these respondents consisted of White males. The views of both management and employees are once again based on the stigmas associated with people with HIV/AIDS. HIV/AlDS for management is synonymous with the waste of financial resources and for employees, HIV/AIDS is synonymous with lack of capacity to work and of posing a risk to other workers. According to Ngwena (1999), the crucial consideration is not whether the job applicant or employee has HJV I AIDS but whether on account of AIDS-related illness he or she can perform the job according to the legitimate expectations of the employer. Consequently, the views of the respondents regarding the job status of HIV/AIDS infected management and employees cannot be justified on the grounds that once an individual is infected, he or she is incapable of working.
All the respondents. even those not in favour of HJV/AlDS testing agreed that it would be valuable to have an idea on the number of employees infected. The reasons offered for this was that it would be crucial in being able to anticipate the future loss of workers due to HIV/AIDS. In this way the economic impact in the workplace could also be predicted. One respondent stated that the EEA, by preventing the tracking of the epidemic in the workplace was also preventing them from pursuing a coherent and effective anti-AIDS campaign in the workplace. It was also the view of respondents that the EEA should be amended to allow for situations were the informed consent of the employee has been given and the results were to remain confidential. Permission to the Labour Court would then be unnecessary. When asked by the researcher if steps to approach the Labour Court for permission were being taken, I respondent from senior management (White male) stated that no such moves were in progress since there existed a lack of political courage on the part of management. A special hearing would have to be convened with all the relevant interest groups present. However. it was felt by respondents that something has to be done soon given the fact that the epidemic has spiralled out of control and because the Unicity employs a number of high risks groups. Consequently, provisions on HIV/AlDS testing were considered to be both unfeasible and unsustainable in the Unicity.
Two respondents from senior management (2 White males) indicated that the laws' over-concern for confidentiality might in fact stymie HIV I AIDS prevention efforts in the workplace. However. the rest of the respondents did not consider confidentiality laws to be unfeasible or unsustainable. The 7 respondents who were not in favour of providing alternate forms of employment for HIV/AlDS infected employees, indicated that the existing labour legislation does not adequately protect the employer in having to retain the services of those who become too sick to undertake the tasks for which they were originally employed. This was regarded as being unsustainable.
[n the memorable words of one respondent from senior management (White male).
the above laws were attempting to turn HIV positive employees into HIV negative employees. Such a situation was seen to be highly inequitable towards uninfected employees and employers who bear a large part of the costs. Thus, these protective laws were viewed as primarily protecting individual rights at the expense of community or public rights. For the Unicity, emphasis has to be placed on the latter.
Consequently, respondents indicated that these laws were sometimes frustrating to work with. Another respondent from senior management (lndian male) stated that if HlV/AIDS is to receive such protection from the legislature so too should other contagious diseases. The strong emphasis on HIV I AIDS protection constituted indirect discrimination against those with other fatal and contagious diseases.
b) Employees
This could not be asked of all employees since many respondents were not aware of the workplace policy. Prior to the interviews the most important provisions of the workplace policy. such as those on HIV/AlDS testing, confidentiality and job status, were explained to respondents. Thereafter, it was left to respondents to decide on their sustainability. From the above findings it would not be premature to conclude that the majority of the respondents were not in favor of any of the provisions that were used as a basis for discussing the appropriateness of the policy and hence, legislation.
From the respondents who were able to confidently discuss the workplace policy, a general feeling of disapproval emerged. These respondents were from general staff (1 White female, 1 Indian male and female and I Coloured female) and basic skills staff (1 Indian male and 2 Black males and females.) These respondents stated that their greatest fear was to become infected and they felt that by working with people with HIV/AIDS their chances of infection were increased. The prohjbition on the testing of employees and employers was regarded overall as being foolish. More interestingly, the provision of protection of people with HIV/AlDS was incomprehensible to this group. One respondent from basic skills staff (Black male) stated lhat the law should not show sympathy towards someone with HIV / AIDS because such people deserved to be punished for their behaviour. Most of these reasons were based on stigmas and a real sense of fear, rather than actua1 experiences.
The reasons that were received from the management group on why they believed the prOVlSlons to be ineffective and unsustainable, was once again largely based on economic concerns, particularly the financial capacity of the Unicity to afford such a benevolent attitude. Yet this financial concern is derived more from the stigmas attached to HIV / AIDS in the workplace than from legitimate concerns. As part of the intervention programmes, employees and management should receive more education and infonnation on all aspects of the epidemic in an attempt to dispel misconceptions
and stigmas attached to the epidemic. Educational programmes in the workplace infonning employees and management of the facts of HIV I AIDS and its transmission need to encourage the appropriate attitude in this regard.