NewsWhore
12-01-2008, 02:30 PM
For over 15 years the Dominican Republic has had the AIDS Law, a piece of legislation which, like many others, is more real on paper than in actuality. Most of the nearly 60,000 people who live with HIV/AIDS, according to the latest statistics, prove this on a daily basis.
Marcos (not his real name) worked as a watchman at a discotheque located in the tourist area of Bavaro. At the beginning of August he, along with all his fellow employees, had to undergo medical tests. Several days later he was fired on the grounds that they were reducing staff. He was never given the test results. As a result, he went for several tests and found out he was HIV+.
Miriam Slujalkovsky, coordinating lawyer of the Integrated Care Technical Working Unit (Utelain) -that has been working since 2007 - told Diario Libre that Law 55-93 prohibits, in Article 3, HIV tests as a requisite for obtaining a job or to remain employed. Many businesses break this law.
She explained that since businesses do have the right to test employees for tuberculosis or hepatitis, many of them contract laboratories to test for HIV without telling anyone or they change the name of the test.
Test results are usually not given to the employees or job candidates and, according to Slujalkovsky, there is no legal mechanism to force the employer to do this.
She said, "As the law prohibits it, supposedly it is not done. In reality, the businesses do not tell, they always give some excuse... unfortunately, we can do nothing in these cases because there is no contract or verbal agreement upon which to base a complaint."
Although violation of the AIDS Law in the labor market is "normal", the Presidential Commission on AIDS (COPRESIDA) Legal Advisor assured Diario Libre that there has been some progress. Erika Suero, the assistant legal advisor, said that educational issues for both employers and employees are at play.
Up until now, 46 businesses all across the country have signed agreements to apply non-discriminatory policies to people affected by HIV+ or AIDS. She said that many cases of discrimination in the workplace occur due to a lack of knowledge by the employers. She said that many employers have approached her office for guidance in that respect.
Suero points out the importance of workers being aware of the law, since in many cases they do not know their rights or do not admit them out of fear of social stigma of being HIV+.
Since it was set up, UTELAIN, working jointly with the Ministry of Labor, has helped resolve 10 out of 11 HIV+/AIDS related discrimination cases. One case is still in the courts.
Suero said that her office is also helping people with HIV or AIDS to fulfill their duties by informing their partners or former partners of their condition. According to Article 22 of the law, a person with HIV+ is under no obligation to reveal this to their employer.
At national level, 60 integrated units provide care to people infected with HIV or AIDS. The infrastructure is provided by the government, as are the doctors and psychologists who work in them. Nonetheless, the resources that provide them with the necessary medicines (such as anti-retroviral and proteins) come from external sources.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
Marcos (not his real name) worked as a watchman at a discotheque located in the tourist area of Bavaro. At the beginning of August he, along with all his fellow employees, had to undergo medical tests. Several days later he was fired on the grounds that they were reducing staff. He was never given the test results. As a result, he went for several tests and found out he was HIV+.
Miriam Slujalkovsky, coordinating lawyer of the Integrated Care Technical Working Unit (Utelain) -that has been working since 2007 - told Diario Libre that Law 55-93 prohibits, in Article 3, HIV tests as a requisite for obtaining a job or to remain employed. Many businesses break this law.
She explained that since businesses do have the right to test employees for tuberculosis or hepatitis, many of them contract laboratories to test for HIV without telling anyone or they change the name of the test.
Test results are usually not given to the employees or job candidates and, according to Slujalkovsky, there is no legal mechanism to force the employer to do this.
She said, "As the law prohibits it, supposedly it is not done. In reality, the businesses do not tell, they always give some excuse... unfortunately, we can do nothing in these cases because there is no contract or verbal agreement upon which to base a complaint."
Although violation of the AIDS Law in the labor market is "normal", the Presidential Commission on AIDS (COPRESIDA) Legal Advisor assured Diario Libre that there has been some progress. Erika Suero, the assistant legal advisor, said that educational issues for both employers and employees are at play.
Up until now, 46 businesses all across the country have signed agreements to apply non-discriminatory policies to people affected by HIV+ or AIDS. She said that many cases of discrimination in the workplace occur due to a lack of knowledge by the employers. She said that many employers have approached her office for guidance in that respect.
Suero points out the importance of workers being aware of the law, since in many cases they do not know their rights or do not admit them out of fear of social stigma of being HIV+.
Since it was set up, UTELAIN, working jointly with the Ministry of Labor, has helped resolve 10 out of 11 HIV+/AIDS related discrimination cases. One case is still in the courts.
Suero said that her office is also helping people with HIV or AIDS to fulfill their duties by informing their partners or former partners of their condition. According to Article 22 of the law, a person with HIV+ is under no obligation to reveal this to their employer.
At national level, 60 integrated units provide care to people infected with HIV or AIDS. The infrastructure is provided by the government, as are the doctors and psychologists who work in them. Nonetheless, the resources that provide them with the necessary medicines (such as anti-retroviral and proteins) come from external sources.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)