The Office of Personnel Management issued policy dated May 1995 to help Federal agencies establish effective programs and policies on HIV/AIDS in the workplace. This policy is based on guidelines from the Public Health Service’s Centers For Disease Control.

Federal agencies must allow any employee with HIV or AIDS to continue working as long as that employee can perform acceptably and does not pose a safety or health threat to himself or others in the workplace. If medical conditions impair the employee’s ability to perform, the agency must treat the employee the same as any other employee suffering from a serious illness. Federal Agencies must also provide health care personnel who come in direct contact with body fluids of persons having HIV/AIDS with appropriate information and equipment to minimize the risk of such contact.

Employees may not refuse to work with those employees or clients who are HIV infected or diagnosed with AIDS. Employees may also not engage in behavior that creates an uncomfortable or hostile work environment for co-workers with such medical conditions. Employees, co-workers and supervisors alike, who engage in this type of behavior are subject to disciplinary action under the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended in 1992 to conform with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Further, supervisors are responsible for making sure that their employees understand and comply with agency policy.

Employees who object to attending HIV/AIDS training for religious reasons may request exemption under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations at 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1605.2. An employer must accommodate religious practices unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would result in undue hardship on the conduct of its business.

Employees with HIV/AIDS may be eligible for disability retirement if their medical condition warrants and if they have the requisite years of federal service to qualify. Under the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Living Benefits Act of 1994, federal employees who are diagnosed as terminally ill with a life expectance of nine months or less may elect to receive all or a portion of their FEGLI basic life insurance as a “living benefit.”