HIV & Confidentiality

cradvocate

If a worker has absences as a result of undergoing regular testing to determine if they have become positive for HIV after exposure, and that worker works in the HR office of a large organization, how does one treat all the other employees in the office in regards to 'need to know' and confidentiality issues? On the one hand, all HR staff work under an expectation that any information they come across while processing and filing documents will be kept confidential. On the other hand, perhaps all the documentation concerning this individual should be handled separately and outside of the normal processing so that it will not become 'known' by other staff members. What would be the legal requirements in a situation like this?

Hatchetman

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-04-02 AT 04:54PM (CST)[/font][p]Given the fact that the employee with HIV works day in and day out with the other individuals, I would suggest keeping the information as strictly confidential as possible to only a "need to know" for HR employees. Treat this information no less than you would treat information about poor work performance, for example, or other personal information about an HR employee. This is NOT to say the non-HR employees with HIV don't also have to have the same level of confidentiality within the HR section.