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| for and by young people with HIV |
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education and work Learning that you are HIV positive can have a drastic influence on the further course of your education or your work. You may have more difficulty concentrating, which could make your performance a bit disappointing, or studying might simply seem unimportant for the time being. You may begin to wonder what consequences of being HIV positive will have for your further education and prospects for work. Perhaps you doubt whether or not you should tell your employer. But always be aware that information about your HIV status is personal and part of your private life. You are never officially required to tell anyone that you are HIV positive. Being informed about your rights, responsibilities and the possibilities concerning your education and your work could help you make the right decisions.  |
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education in The Netherlands Student grants If you are still at primary school or if you are enrolled in secondary school, vocational training, professional education or higher education, you will also experience pressure from the school management or, for example, from the 'Informatie Beheer Groep' (IB-Groep) in Groningen, that will want you to finish your studies within a number of years. As a result of HIV, you might need to take more time to finish, with the risk that you might end up without student funding at a certain point. There are possibilities for dealing with this risk: through special funds for student grants within your field of study or through an arrangement with the IB-Groep. Many training or educational programmes have funds for grants that students can apply for if they are confronted with circumstances in their personal life. In order for you to be entitled to such funding, the institutions often ask that you notify the programme's counsellor as early as possible. The counsellor can help you with the further details of the application.
Extra years of study
The wrong study
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education in Belgium Scholarships If you want to study but are having financial difficulties, the 'scholarship for secondary education' or the 'student grants for higher education' could be a solution. Getting a student grant is subject to a few conditions. There are conditions relating to one's nationality, but also educational or study conditions and financial conditions. The financial conditions depend on your family situation or communal living situation. There are major differences between the conditions for a scholarship and those for student grants. If you follow the link below and look through the guide, you will find the basic information you need (in Dutch) and can learn especially whether or not you are eligible. Link: scholarships.
Alternative educational opportunities
Information |
problems at school due to HIV The right to privacy is generally recognised in the Netherlands. Everyone has the right to keep his or her personal information secret. In Belgium, too, there is no registration requirement, which means that you are not required to mention your HIV status to anyone. In practice, however, we notice a certain conflict between a student's individual right to privacy on the one hand and the school's demand for complete information on the other. Both parties can feel that they are at a disadvantage. In addition, it sometimes happens that a school that learns of a student's HIV status is unable to keep that secret. This obviously creates complex situations.
If you have problems at school on account of your HIV status, contact (for Belgium): |
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applying for a job in The Netherlands During a job interview, no one is allowed to ask you about your health or history of diseases, including HIV. This is specified in the Medical Examinations Act (Wet Medische Keuringen) for the Netherlands. On the other hand, if you already know of something that will influence your performance on the job, you do need to mention that. In that case, you do not have to mention your HIV status, but rather that you suffer from (chronic) fatigue, for example. Moreover, the Medical Examinations Act also forbids employers from holding medical (physical) examinations of prospective employees. An exception to this is when there are special medical demands for the position in question, but in that case, those demands must be specifically stated in the job description. And even if a physical examination is necessary, questions about infections (such as HIV) or hereditary abnormalities are still not allowed, whether they are asked in person or in writing. |
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applying for a job in Belgium Legally, prospective employers may not ask you about your HIV status during a job interview or when they are recruiting you for a job. Questions about that are included among the topics that relate to a person's private life, such as one's sexual preference, religious beliefs, etc. Medical examinations held in connection with the ability to carry out a job may not include an HIV test. In any case, testing for HIV may never take place unless the person in question has given permission for that in advance. |
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to tell or not to tell that you are HIV positive Information about your HIV status is part of your private life. That means that - officially - you do not have to tell your employer that you are HIV positive. Think for yourself about what your motivation is for informing your employer of your status and what the advantages and disadvantages could be of telling or not telling. Look into this as thoroughly as you can. If you do finally decide to tell someone in your work environment, the company doctor might be the most obvious choice. As a doctor, he or she is bound by the duty of medical confidentiality, having sworn a vow of secrecy. This means that he or she also cannot tell your employer.
If you decide to take your employer or co-workers into confidence, think carefully in advance about how you will do this, when, where and with whom. Try especially to estimate how they might react and what the possible advantage to you of telling them could be. Remember that it is unfortunately still possible that you will be confronted with people who will not (want to) understand. Sometimes it is better not to say anything for the time being.
The choice of whether or not to tell others about your HIV status is easiest when you don't have any complaints. If you have to take your medicines at your work, that decision becomes a little more complicated. It is even harder if you do have complaints, for example if you regularly call in sick and would like to adjust your working hours to fit the state of your health. In that case, the company doctor is the best person to talk to. But whatever you do, it's totally up to you!
It might not always be so convenient for you to take your medication at work. In that case, you can always discuss with your doctor about whether it is possible to change the times you have to take your pills.
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anonymous I didn't want to inform my employer right away about my HIV-status. But when I began to get sick more often and thus felt I should work less hours, I decided to lay my cards on the table. Luckily, his reaction was real positive. I was afraid that I would be "shown the door", but he expressed a lot of understanding and together we agreed on a feasible work schedule. I was really thankful for that!
Read another persoanl story: |
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dismissal You may never be fired on account of your HIV status. While HIV may never be a reason for firing someone, employers will often come up with other reasons. People are sometimes supposedly fired on account of a reorganisation, cost savings, or poor performance.... It can be difficult to prove later that you were actually fired on account of your HIV status. For that reason, you should always make sure that you have a yearly performance review with your manager, for example, and that you receive a written report of each review. With those, you can always show later how your job performance was valued in the past. |
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working with HIV Some people think about going back to work, but don't know whether they will be able to handle working fulltime. Take the time to look, together with others such as your medical social worker, at which possibilities are available to you and what the advantages and disadvantages might be.
For questions
For more information about HIV and work |
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