Discrimination against people with HIV at work

Monday morning was the best time of the week for mike for he loved going to work which could not be said for most of his colleagues. Mike had wanted to be a system analyst all his life and though he had been working at Mercury Star for four and a half years. He came into the office with the drive, sense of excitement, enthusiasm and expectation that an 8 year old boy had when his dad took him to get his first bicycle.His daily routine involved; getting into the office at least thirty minutes early so as to have enough time to settle in, review the previous day’s work and establish what would be his workload for the day. The first thing he did was to sit and admire the two beautiful, polished glass trophies which sat on the table on the left side of the room next to the picture of his girlfriend. These trophies were the reward for his hard earned success as he had been the firm’s employee of the year for the last two consecutive years.It was unusual for a 28 year old to have achieved that kind of success in such a short time as mike had already been promoted to a managerial post. Mike was a respected man in his work place and his employees looked up to him and some even pegged him as they guy who will be a Chief Executive Officer by the time he was 35. though he downplayed this remarks he always felt that he had the potential and after wining his second employee of the year award that became his new ambition. Within just four years he had become the one of the best system analysts in the city.Mike had his whole future planned out, how he would propose to his long time girlfriend by the end of the year, he was in the middle of negotiating a mortgage with the local bank and he was paying the last installment on his BMW M9. He even drew up a plan in which he planned to work extra so that he would be able to go into retirement by the age of 40 and set up a system analysis consultancy firm within the city (Geoffrey 23). His position in the office came w ith a health insurance package which until this time Mike had never used it.But on this Monday morning Mike felt different he felt like he was coming up with flu so after he reported to work he took the day off to go and see his doctor which was unusual as Mike rarely got sick. The doctor at first was not able to tell what was wrong with him so he ran some tests. When Mike came to see the doctor late in the afternoon the news that doctor gave him made him feel like his life had just been pulled right from under his feet. The words â€Å"I’m sorry Mike but you are HIV positive† keep ringing in his head.Mike did not even hear what the doctor said for next few minutes as he tried to let the news sink in. The medical cover policy had a condition that when an employee visits the firm’s doctor, he had to furnish the management with a complete report of the doctor’s examination. Mike went back to work after three days and tried to act like nothing had happened. But however much he tried he could not shake off what the doctor had told him he couldn’t and on this particular day he got to work late which had never happened.A soon as got to the office he was informed that the boss wanted to see him. When he got into his office, the boss offered him a sit and for the next fifteen minutes he went on and on how Mike was an excellent employ but what happened after that Mike would never have contemplated. The boss told him that the board had discussed on the medical report and had come to the conclusion to let him go. It was at this point that he truly felt his world come crumble and all his dreams and ambitions came tumbling down. What and end to a brilliant young man’s career. Discrimination against People with HIV at Work A salesman representative is terminated from his job when he was diagnosed as HIV positive. He was about to complete the six months requirement in order to become a regular employee but he was terminated under the dubious excuse of â€Å"grave misconduct†. But the real cause of his termination is his health condition, specifically, being positive on HIV or AIDS. The Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, more commonly known as AIDS, is caused by the HIV or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The virus impairs the body’s defenses or immune system and leaves the body vulnerable to various serious and fatal illnesses (â€Å"AIDS and the Workplace†, 1992).People with HIV infection are living like normal people. They are able to perform well in their community and in their workplace environment. But still, discrimination against people with HIV is still prevalent in some areas, especially in the workplace. The United Nations campaigns for the ban of prejudice against peopl e with HIV/AIDS. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for worldwide efforts in battling not only the disease but the discrimination that is also widespread (â€Å"Ban urges end to Prejudice against People Living with HIV/AIDS†, 2008).Companies should address issues that are related to HIV/AIDS by enhancing a non-discriminatory workplace environment and by providing education regarding the frequently asked questions on AIDS. For the workplace environment that has an increased risk in blood exchange, the company should apply a control program in order to monitor and regulate the activities in the workplace (â€Å"AIDS and the Workplace†, 1992). People infected with HIV have the capacity to live normally in the society. And as such, we must not deprive the infected people with AIDS to do their tasks and participate and socialize with the other members of the society.