Question
I live in the UK, do I need to tell my employer about my status?
3 March 2018. Related: All topics, Disclosure.
I am currently a serving response Police Officer in the UK. I am undetectable and on medication, do i need to inform my employer?
Also i am getting into a relationship with another officer but am scared to tell him should this ruin it. This is also making me put off intercourse
Answer
Thanks for getting in touch.
You don’t have to tell your employer about your status if you don’t want to. Who you tell is a personal decision. Its also illegal to discriminate against someone who is positive in the UK, and an employer can’t ask someone if they are positive or not.
With regards to your relationship, telling someone that you’re positive, especially someone who you want to have a sexual relationship with can be difficult. I’d like to say that there’s an easy solution, but I don’t think that there is.
Being able to have a discussion about what it means to be living with HIV in 2018 may help, so the science. If you can exaplin to them that you can’t transmit HIV this may help, sharing the info that’s in this link may help:
Try and be ready for potetnal questions, so other than transmission, you might be asked about life expecancy. As you may know, there’s no reason why someone with HIV can’t have a long and active life.
I appreciate how difficult this can be, but it is possible.If they aren’t understanding, then they aren’t the right person for you. After all HIV is a very manageble health condition and not one that deserves the stigma that it attracks.
Comment