Disclosure and Confidentiality
HIV remains a highly stigmatised condition which can give rise to prejudice, isolation and discrimination towards the person affected and their family. It may even lead to someone losing their job. Once confidentiality has been broken it can never be repaired and the consequences can be deeply damaging for the person concerned, especially in a small community like Jersey.
The vast majority of HIV positive workers do not disclose their HIV status to their employer because they fear that the information will not be kept confidential. There are therefore many issues around confidentiality relating to a person’s HIV status that employers need to be aware of and address to ensure protection of employees and compliance with the law.
Key points
- Disclosure of HIV status is not a legal requirement. An HIV positive employee does not have to disclose their HIV status.
- As an employer you should be aware that if an employee chooses to disclose their HIV status you have a legal duty to safeguard the confidentiality of an employee’s personal and medical information. The Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005 regulates how personal information is processed and protects all personal sensitive data disclosed by a job applicant or employee. This includes information about a physical or mental health condition. Explicit consent is needed for personal sensitive information about employees’ health to be processed within an organisation. Every responsible employer should have procedures in place to ensure that personal information about employees is properly handled. The office of the Data Protection Commissioner can advise employers on their duties under the law. Her contact details are:
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner:
www.dataprotection.gov.je
Tel: +44 (0)1534 441064
E-Mail: dataprotection@gov.je
- Selective disclosure is recommended and should be made to HR, Occupational Health, the line manager or whoever it is felt is most appropriate to be entrusted with the information.
- There are good reasons to help create a workplace climate where disclosure becomes a realistic option for HIV positive workers. By being seen to have good workplace policies in place that support people with HIV you can ensure that your employees will have more confidence in choosing to disclose their status.
- Ultimately the choice about whether to tell others about their HIV status belongs to individuals. However, there may be good reasons to disclose to others on a ’need to know’ basis. This makes it especially important to ensure that confidentiality is respected where disclosures are made.
Last updated April 2010