Abstract:
Various pieces of legislation deal with employers’ duties towards
employees infected with HIV/AIDS. Generally1 these provisions are worded
negatively. On the face of it, therefore, it may appear that these duties relate to
what employers may not do. Consequently, there seems to be no legislative
imposition on employers to take positive steps to protect the interests and
ameliorate the position of such employees. Nevertheless, a closer examination
of case law, the common law, various pieces of legislation and soft law in the
form of codes, as well as their interaction with one another, demonstrates that
despite the negative wording in the legislation, employers are in effect legally
obliged to take positive steps to protect not only employees but even
applicants for employment infected with the virus.
