Why have a policy?
The policy
1. GENERAL STATEMENT
The policy begins with a general statement or introduction that relates the HIV/AIDS policy to the
local context and existing business practices, including some or all of the following:
• The reason why the company has an HIV/AIDS policy
• A statement about how the policy relates to other company policies
• Policy compliance with national and local laws and trade agreements
Sample language
Company or public sector workplace X recognises the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
and its impact on the workplace. The Company supports national efforts to reduce the spread of
infection and minimize the impact of the disease.
A workplace policy on HIV/AIDS:
what it should cover
A workplace policy provides the framework for action
to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and manage its
impact. It:
• makes an explicit commitment to corporate action
• ensures consistency with appropriate national laws
• lays down a standard of behaviour for all
employees (whether infected or not)
• gives guidance to supervisors and managers
• helps employees living with HIV/AIDS to
understand what support and care they will
receive, so they are more likely to come forward
for voluntary testing
• helps to stop the spread of the virus through
prevention programmes
• assists an enterprise to plan for HIV/AIDS and
manage its impact, so ultimately saving money.
It provides the basis for putting in place a
comprehensive workplace programme, combining
prevention, care and the protection of rights.
Depending on the particular situation, it may consist
of a detailed document just on HIV/AIDS, setting
out programme as well as policy issues; it may be
part of a wider policy or agreement on safety, health
and working conditions; it may be a short statement
of principle.
The IL
O Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the
world of work provides guidelines for the development
of policies and programmes on HIV/AIDS in the
workplace. It is complemented by an educa
tion and
training man
ual. These encourage a consistent
approach to HIV/AIDS, based on ten k
ey principles,
while being flexible enough to address the different
needs of individual workplaces.
Policies should be shaped by local needs and conditions
- no single policy is relevant to all situations - but the
components below can usefully be included. Language
you may like to consider and adapt is shown in lighter
(yellow) panels. Please insert 'Ministry', 'department',
'hospital' or other word as appropriate if your
workplace isn't a private sector company.