The first step in the systematic process of instituting an HIV Workplace Program is "Conducting an Assessment". This assessment has two aspects:
The rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the local community as well as mortality from the disease, can be considered to be the rate of prevalence of the disease within the business as well. This is indicated by epidemiological data at the local level and is available from the local Health Department.1 Also assess the specific impact of HIV in your business. You can do this by looking at data related to absenteeism, staff turnover, health insurance claims from Human Resources (without identifiers) and health statistics from the company clinic like STD diagnoses numbers etc. This will tell you what percent of employees are affected by the disease, and what it costs the company to address the needs of these employees. These data can later also be shared with the management and leadership to establish the need for addressing HIV/AIDS in the workplace.
The next level of assessment is to assess the current response of your business to the HIV/AIDS problem in different realms including:
A workplace impact assessment can be done with the help of the Workplace Assessment Tool. The workplace assessment tool will help you to assess the extent of current efforts in all these different areas and will point to the areas where more can be done. The preparedness of the workplace to address HIV in the different areas would include: the existence of a standalone policy, accommodations for employees with HIV-related disabilities, and a non discriminatory performance review process; adequate HIV training for managers and labor leaders that makes them aware of the available laws for protection of infected persons, responsibilities related to maintaining confidentiality, as well as appreciation for an HIV workplace program. An adequate response in terms of HIV education would include employee awareness about transmission of the disease, employee rights for protection in the workplace, and HIV-related privacy laws. The readiness of the workplace to address HIV would also be indicated by the extent of efforts made by the business to offer HIV-related education to families of employees; and, importantly, the extent of participation of the business in HIV-related philanthropy as well as community involvement.
