Fight with public employer spotlights right to work
Proceedings in China's labor arbitration case addressing job discrimination against an HIV-positive individual opened in a court in South China's Guangdong Province on Sunday.
The 27-year-old plaintiff, Ah Ming (pseudonym), filed a case against his employer - a public institution in Guangzhou - with the local labor dispute arbitration committee in April after he was told to leave his job when he was found to be HIV positive during a physical exam.
"I want to go back to my work, and my health condition allows me to handle my work right now," Ah Ming told the Global Times on Sunday.
Ah Ming had worked for the institution for three years as a contract worker and was applying for a permanent job there, which requires a physical examination.
After the physical, Ah Ming was told that the provincial employment regulations for public institutions do not allow people who are HIV positive to be employed. His employer also suspended him from work and asked him to rest at home, citing regulations on prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.
"The Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases ... excludes HIV carriers from those needing to be treated in quarantine," Qiu Hengyu, Ah Ming's attorney, told the Global Times.
"The employer's decision to suspend Ah Ming from work has violated the law," Qiu said.
Citing the Rules on AIDS Prevention and Treatment, Qiu pointed out that the marriage, employment, medical treatment and education rights and interests of those living with HIV and AIDS are protected by law.
"Government agencies and public institutions should not expressly discriminate against an employee while the government is advocating employment equality," Qiu noted. He added that the result of the arbitration will be announced within 60 days.
However, Ah Ming's employer said the health requirements for his post are stricter, since his duty is to use primarily glass tools to inspect and test products that will be "directly sold to and eaten by consumers," news site thepaper.cn reported on Sunday.
