Lesotho's implementation of the ILO standards on prevention of discrimination against employees living with HIV/AIDS in the workplace : lessons from South Africa

Abstract

It is a set principle of international customary law that states are obliged to put in place laws and policies that are intended to prohibit all forms of unfair discrimination and those which promote equality to all its citizens. Both Lesotho and South Africa have acceded to several international instruments that are intended to prevent and prohibit unfair discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in the workplace. The law prohibits all forms of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS based on their health status, as it violates their constitutionally enshrined rights such as the right to dignity and equality. In realisation of these rights, the law prohibits, amongst others, mandatory testing, mostly in situations where it is used as a condition for employment. The law also prohibits an employer from forcing workers to disclose their HIV/AIDS status and furthermore to subject employees to any form of dismissal that is based on their HIV/AIDS status. The majority of people living with HIV/AIDS have been recognised to be those who are within the working age and this fact has been identified to have a direct impact on the workforce, hence the need to address all forms of unfair treatment which workers living with HIV/AIDS are subject to. It has also been recognised that failure to protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in the workplace leads to stigmatisation and discrimination, which has shown to have a great impact on productivity. This fact has therefore necessitated the need to address the ramifications which came as a result of the stigma and unfair discrimination in the world of work.