By Nick Triggle
BBC News Online health staff
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New disability discrimination legislation has come into force. BBC News Online examines whether it will help the 50,000 people with HIV in the UK.
The fire service is now covered by disability discrimination law
Dean was diagnosed HIV-positive in April 1999.
At the time he had a high-flying career as a stockbroker in London.
But that soon changed once he told his employers.
"Work was initially sympathetic. I disclosed my status to my department head
and got paid leave.
"However, the news did spread within the firm and around other institutions
in the city. It's a very gossipy, incestuous working environment.
"I went back to work for a short time but couldn't cope with the pressure,
signing off sick again, I was given an ultimatum to return or be
constructively dismissed.
"They were pleased to wash their hands of me and being in a very fragile,
distressed state, I did not challenge the decision - something I obviously
regret now."
After losing his job, Dean spent two years abroad before coming back to
England and settling in Gloucestershire. He is now looking to work in the
voluntary sector.
Campaigners believe his case is far from unique.
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Exemptions
However, they hope the tide will start turning after new anti-discrimination
laws came into place on Friday.
It is now against the law for all employers to discriminate against people
with disability.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 now applies to small businesses and
parts of the public sector.
The fire and rescue service is one where stigma and discrimination exists
in many forms, including that towards people living with HIV and Aids
Stewart Brown, Fire Brigades Union
Larger firms were already covered by the act, which outlaws any form of
discrimination, prejudice or harassment in the workplace.
Employers are also required to allow people with HIV and Aids, and other
conditions such as diabetes and epilepsy, to work for them. Only the armed
forces are exempt.
And it gives those who are discriminated against a clear right to legal
redress.
More than 50,000 are living with HIV in the UK - 25% of whom have Aids
defining illnesses - many of them working across the private, public and
voluntary sectors.
Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said in the past
people with HIV and Aids have found it hard to tell their employers.
"One of the difficulties is disclosure, and a lot of that is to do with the
stigma and discrimination that still exits.
"Some people do fear that their employers will sack them or make life
difficult and there is an awful lot of evidence to support that."
--
Abuse
The trust said a variety of people with HIV and Aids have contacted them
about work discrimination.
In one case a job applicant was refused employment after he told his future
boss that he was HIV-positive.
Others have been subject to verbal abuse, while a hairdresser was dismissed
because "customers and staff would feel uncomfortable with him working in
the salon".
--
Improvements in drug treatment mean people are living longer
Businesses, for their part, say they are willing to change.
A spokesman for the Confederation of British Industry said business was
"ready" for the challenge.
Among the employers exempt before Friday were the fire service and police.
Stewart Brown, of the Fire Brigades Union, said he wanted to see the
service stamp out prejudice and become a "better employer".
"The fire and rescue service is one where stigma and discrimination exists
in many forms, including towards people living with HIV and Aids."
And Andy Hewlett, HIV consultant for the Gay Police Association, said the
new laws would help reassure and protect police staff who work for police
forces.
--
Help
To coincide with the new regulations, the National Aids Trust has produced
a resource pack for employers explaining what their responsibilities are
and what it means to have HIV and Aids.
The pack also calls on employers to develop HIV policies.
Ms Jack said the new regulations meant employers had to start thinking
seriously about how to treat staff with HIV and Aids.
"Improvements in drug treatment mean people are living longer and are
healthier.
"But they still need support. It is quite often simple things, time off to
see doctors or even having a desk near the toilets as one of the consequences
of the drugs is that some people have diarrhoea."
Discrimination is not going to disappear altogether. But what the new
rules do is send out a message that this type of discrimination is not to be
tolerated
Andrew Little, Positive Futures Partnership
Nick Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, also believes
the act will make a difference.
"It sends a very important message to employers and service providers that
discriminating against people just because they have HIV is not only
unacceptable, it's also now illegal.
"Sadly, people with HIV can still face prejudice and discrimination in many
areas of their daily lives, and we hope that this change in the law will go
some way towards reducing it."
But campaigners also agree that the new legislation will not mean an end to
discrimination.
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Loophole
Under a loophole in the law, people with HIV are not covered until they
develop symptoms of the virus.
That is due to change when a bill comes into force, probably towards the
end of next year, which will extend the protection to when people are
diagnosed with HIV.
The loophole has led some to claim Friday's change will not make a huge
difference.
A spokeswoman for the Disability Rights Commission, set up in 2000 to
promote equal opportunity for people with disabilities, said: "Many people
with HIV and Aids are discriminated against. Unfortunately, it is unlikely
there will be huge benefits with the new legislation.
"We may have to wait until next year to see big changes."
Ms Jack agreed, saying many people with HIV are still not covered by the
protection.
"That will change next year but we still want employers to face up to their
responsibilities."
And Andrew Little, director of the Positive Futures Partnership, a support
group to help improve the education and employment prospects of people with
HIV, said: "Discrimination is not going to disappear altogether. But what the
new rules do is send out a message that this type of discrimination is not
to be tolerated.
"We can use it to support what we are saying when we talk to employers.
That is how it will make a difference."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3706878.stm
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