Home

HIV/AIDS

Hepatitis

Safe Sex

Drug Use & HIV

Contact Us

Make a Donation

Canadian Law as it Pertains to HIV/AIDS in the Workplace

Based on the many questions we've been asked, there are a lot of misconceptions about what is means to work or study with someone who is HIV positive. This page provides some basic information about what current Canadian law says about HIV. If you would like more information about how these apply to your specific environment, we would be happy to discuss it with you.

Confidentiality and Disclosure:

• A person living with HIV or AIDS may choose whether or not to disclose their status. They are not required by law to disclose.
• An employer or service provider cannot inquire about someone’s HIV status.
• People living with AIDS or HIV have the right to confidentiality about their status. This means that even if someone discloses their status to you, you cannot repeat that information to anyone else without the express consent of the original person.
• Cases have occurred where companies had to pay restitution to employees when their confidentiality was breached.

Accommodation:

• The Canadian Human Rights Act protects those with disabilities from discrimination. Under the act, both HIV and AIDS are considered disabilities.
• Individuals with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodation in the workplace when necessary. This might be something as simple as allowing them to eat lunch according to their medication schedule or not holding meetings at a certain hour because of diarrhoea (a side effects of the medication)
.
• Unfortunately, in order to gain accommodation, someone living with HIV must disclose their status to at least one person. This does not mean they loose their right to confidentiality.

Discrimination:

• The Canadian Human Rights Commission does not support the testing of employees for HIV because this has the potential to lead to discrimination.
• A person living with HIV or AIDS cannot be excluded from a job or service unless it can be proven that they do not meet a bona fide occupational requirement or there is a bona fide justification for excluding them.
• "Potential transmission risk" is not considered a bona fide justification. In fact, there are surgeons, nurses, and dentists living with HIV. As long as universal precautions are observed, there is not a risk of transmission.
• Customer or employee preferences, anxiety, or misunderstanding are never acceptable bona fide justifications.