An employer dismisses a worker after learning of their HIV-positive status
Premiumintermediate8 minutes
The Situation
What They Said
“We can't keep you on now that we know. It wouldn't be fair to the other staff.”
HIV-based employment discrimination is a serious and persistent problem in Zambia. Despite high awareness campaigns and legal protections, workers who disclose their HIV status — or whose status becomes known — frequently face dismissal, demotion, or exclusion. The Employment Code Act 2019 explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of HIV status. The HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act 2014 reinforces these protections. This is one of Zambia's most important and frequently violated employment rights.
The Fallacy
Supposed Risk to Others as Justification Fallacy
The employer implies that keeping an HIV-positive employee poses a risk to other staff, making the dismissal appear protective rather than discriminatory. This is medically and legally false. HIV cannot be transmitted through normal workplace contact. The 'risk to others' framing is a stigma-based rationalisation with no scientific or legal foundation, and Zambian law explicitly rejects it as a basis for employment decisions.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019
Section 104 — Prohibition of HIV/AIDS Discrimination
“An employer shall not discriminate against an employee or prospective employee on the basis of their actual or perceived HIV/AIDS status, and shall not use HIV/AIDS status as a reason for termination of employment.”
Dismissal based on HIV status is explicitly prohibited and constitutes unlawful discrimination. File with the Labour Commissioner and the Industrial Labour Tribunal.
HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act No. 14 of 2014
Section 41 — Non-Discrimination in Employment
“No person shall be refused employment, dismissed, or subjected to adverse employment action solely on the ground of their HIV status.”
This Act provides a separate legal basis for challenging HIV-based dismissal, with its own enforcement mechanism through the relevant ministry.
Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019
Section 54 — Remedies
“Where the Industrial Labour Tribunal finds discrimination-based dismissal, it may order reinstatement, re-engagement, or compensation of up to three years' wages.”
The remedies available for HIV discrimination include reinstatement and significant compensation. These are among the strongest remedies available under the Employment Code Act.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
Luke 17:12-13 (NIV)
“As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, 'Jesus, Master, have pity on us!'”
Jesus did not exclude or avoid those with illness — he healed them and restored them to community. The stigma of disease is something God consistently worked against, not with. An employer who excludes a person because of illness is acting in the opposite spirit to Jesus. The law agrees.
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You Know the Law — But Do You Know What to Say?
Reading your rights is one thing. Using them under pressure — calmly, correctly, in the right words — is what actually protects you. Members get the scripted rebuttal for this exact situation: what to say first, what to say if they push back, the tone to use, and the constitutional provision to cite. Practise out loud with audio until it's automatic.