Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act No. 55 of 1998)Code of Good PracticeKey Aspects of HIV/Aids and Employment14. Assessing the impact of HIV/Aids on the workplace |
| 1) | Employers and trade unions should develop appropriate strategies to understand, assess and respond to the impact of HIV/AIDS in their particular workplace and sector. This should be done in cooperation with sectoral, local, provincial and national initiatives by government, civil society and nongovernmental organisations. |
| 2) | Broadly, impact assessments should include: |
| i) | Risk profiles; and |
| ii) | Assessment of the direct and indirect costs of HIV/AIDS; |
| 3) | Risk profiles may include an assessment of the following: |
| i) | The vulnerability of individual employees or categories of employees to HIV infection; |
| ii) | The nature and operations of the organisation and how these may increase susceptibility to HIV infection (e.g. migrancy or hostel dwellings); |
| iii) | A profile of the communities from which the organisation draws its employees; |
| iv) | A profile of the communities surrounding the organisation’s place of operation; and |
| v) | An assessment of the impact of HIV/AIDS upon their target markets and client base. |
| 4) | The assessments should also consider the impact that the HIV/AIDS epidemic may have on: |
| i) | Direct costs such as costs to employee benefits, medical costs and increased costs related to staff turnover such as training and recruitment costs and the costs of implementing an HIV/AIDS programme; |
| ii) | Indirect costs such as costs incurred as a result of increased absenteeism, employee morbidity, loss of productivity, a general decline in workplace morale and possible workplace disruption; |
| 5) | The cost effectiveness of any HIV/AIDS interventions should also be measured as part of an impact assessment |