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Employer Policies For Dealing

GENERAL STATEMENT AND GUIDELINES CONCERNING AIDS AND OTHER LIFE THREATENING DISEASES

What is AIDS?
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a communicable, life-threatening disease with no cure at this time. Recognizing that prevention of infection is the best defense against AIDS, Wellesley College believes its primary response to this health threat should be community education about the disease and ways to avoid infection.
What Can an Employer Ask About the Medical Condition of an HIV-Positive Person?
AIDS results from infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV is transmitted to individuals only by intimate sexual contact or by blood contact as with HIV contaminated needles or HIV-containing blood transfusion. Authoritative medical opinion from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American College Health Association states that there is no risk of acquiring AIDS by ordinary social or occupational contact such as working with, sitting near, or living in the same residence with an HIV-infected person. There is no risk in eating food handled by an infected person, being coughed or sneezed upon by an infected person, or swimming in a pool with an infected person.
Prior to making a job offer, employers may not ask job applicants about the existence, nature, or severity of a disability. Nor can an employer require any applicant to undergo a medical examination. Thus, an employer cannot ask applicants if they have HIV infection, AIDS, or any opportunistic infection associated with AIDS. Nor can an employer require any applicant to take an HIV antibody test because that is a medical examination. However, applicants may be asked about their ability to perform specific job functions.
The ADA allows an employer to ask individuals whether they have HIV infection or AIDS only after the employer has extended a conditional offer of employment. However, questions must be asked of...