Legal Requirements and Potential Issues Associated with HIV Workers - Essay Example

Management: legal requirements and potential issues associated with HIV+ workers Legal requirements and potential issues associated with HIV+ workers 1. Summary of Law: Brief description of the law or issue (who is affected/covered by it?).The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990(ADA) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, in addition to other state laws are the key laws that guard individuals with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) particularly from prejudice on the basis of their condition, the key one being the ADA. The ADA Act of 1990 is the core law that provides federal civil rights security to persons with disabilities like to those offered to persons in regard to their color, race, national origin, sex, as well as religion. Thus under this law, persons with HIV or AIDS are safeguarded from discrimination on the basis of their condition (U.S department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights, 2014). 2. Relevance and importance: Well supported explanation of how and why this legal issue is important for you and your colleagues as current or future managers? The relevance of these laws is the fact that they assure equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, local and state government services as well as telecommunications. Normally, discrimination takes place when an entity leaves out a person with HIV from taking part in a service or disallows a person a benefit. Instances of discriminatory acts toward persons with HIV/AIDS comprise of refusing access to medical treatment and/or social services or having treatment and/or services deferred for the sole reason of one having HIV/AIDS(Webber,2007). Thus, if the person with HIV fulfils the necessary eligibility needs for the benefit or service, the entity may be needed to make a rational accommodation to facilitate the person to take part. These laws are crucial in that it is unlawful to discriminate against individuals having or are believed to be having HIV/AIDS in regard to; employment, rental, acquisition or sale of apartment, real estate, or house, public accommodation places (theaters, restaurants etc), health care, home repairs, legal services or other various services available to the public generally, application of a credit card or loan, or other credit transactions as well as particular transactions in insurance. On the other hand, employers are obligated to offer and sustain a discrimination-free working place, in addition to ensuring that those with HIV face no intimidation or harassment. It is actually the responsibility of everyone to not only know and understand the employer’s harassment policy but also to adhere to the internal grievance procedure of documenting any occurrence. When the employer fails to adhere to these processes, or the individual harassed is not willing to go to his or her supervisors s/he may directly get in touch with the Office of Civil Rights Department of Health and Human Services. 3. Ethical challenge-Ethics can be defined as the level to which the activities of an authority are in sync with generally acknowledged moral norms (Colquit, et al, 2015 p.217).Ethical challenges may arise with the ethical principles of ethics of right. This basically means an action is morally correct if it reveres the accepted rights of others, like the right to life, justice, liberty, association, expression, privacy, consent and education. Inspite of several years of public awareness, the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, still carries with it severe social disgrace as well as prejudice both with nonmedical and medical personnel.HIV/AIDS diagnosis is normally linked with individual belief have an effect on the views of those who might be homosexual, as well as those using injection drugs. In following the ethics of rights keeping privacy is an ethical challenge in maintenance of confidentiality while offering reasonable accommodation. 4. Practical implications and issues related to trust-The questions and answers that follow offer some practical implications of the ADA to managers. The manager should be capable of answering the question who is a “qualified person with a disability?”If a person is competent to perform important job functions with the exception of limitations resulting from disability, the employer may mull over whether the person could do these roles with a rational accommodation. In addition, a manager should be aware what rational accommodation is as well as when they are needed to make it. Normally, rational accommodation is any alteration or variation to a job or the work environment that will facilitate a competent employee or applicant with a disability to take part in the application procedure or to tackle critical job roles. Are alcoholics covered by the ADA? The answer is yes. Whereas a present unlawful drugs user is not safeguarded by the ADA and the employer happens to take action on the basis of such use, an individual who presently abuses alcohol is not deprived of protection automatically. Alcoholism is a disability and any individual with a disability is safeguarded by the ADA if s/he is competent enough to do the crucial roles of the job. Does the ADA require that an employer post a notice explaining its expenditure? The answer is yes, it is a requirement of ADA that employers post a notice recounting the requirements of the ADA. Thus, it ought to be availed, as required; to persons with disabilities. A poster can be accessed from EEOC with a summary of the provisions of the ADA as well as other Federal legal provisions for nondiscrimination for which EEOC has enforcement accountability. EEOC also offers direction on making sure that this information is availed in formats that can be accessed by persons with disabilities. Are businesses entitled to any tax benefit to help pay for the cost of compliance? The answer is also yes, as modified in 1990, the Internal Revenue Code permits a subtraction of up to 15,000 dollars annually for expenses related with the elimination of qualified transportation and architectural barriers (Colquitt et al, 2015 p.226).Conformity with the ADA creates trust between an employer and the employees. Normally, trust has got a modest positive outcome on performance. Thus employees enthusiastic to be susceptible to authorities seem to have higher degrees of role performance and are most likely to participate in citizenship activity as well as likely to take part in counterproductive activity (Colquitt et al, 2015 p.226). Normally trust has a very powerful impact on commitment. Employees eager to be susceptible to authorities seem to have high degrees of affective commitment as well as higher degrees of normative commitment. On the other hand trust has no impact on persistence commitment (Colquitt et al, 2015 p.226). 5. Recommendations for managers-a set of properly supported realistic suggestions one can make use of or give to a manager who is new. Every suggestion ought to be derived from one’s previous discussion. Managers thus ought to have an HIV/AIDS policy-whether an independent policy or part of a bigger policy tackling non-discrimination or illnesses that threaten life-defines an organization’s stand on HIV/AIDS and should form the basis for its complete HIV/AIDS program (CDC, 2014).Forming an HIV/AIDS workplace policy shows that a firm is aware of how HIV/AIDS may impact both profits and employees. It can also assist in de-stigmazing HIV/AIDS amongst staff and forming an environment where they are comfortable in finding more information on the illness. Designing as well as implementing workplace policies early offers many extra benefits to a firm including; assisting in prevention of the spread of HIV infection amongst employees, their families and community, elimination of employee fear, work disruption as well as customer concern, showing a firm’s responsiveness, guidance, and dedication to society and employees and finally adhering with National and State disability and discrimination needs as stipulated in the ADA Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and local statutes(Webber,2007). References Colquitt, J.A., Lepine, and J.A & Wesson, M.J (2015) .Organizational behaviour: Improving performance and commitment in the workplace (4th Ed.).New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin David, W. (2007). AIDS and the Law. New York,Ny: Aspen Publishers. http://www.glad.org/uploads/docs/publications/me-hiv-overview.pdf http://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/just-diagnosed-with-hiv-aids/your-legal-rights/legal-disclosure/ http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/about/ . Read More