The HIV/AIDS pandemic in the workplace: challenges for human resource managers- a case of the ultimate security management

Abstract

The HIV I AIDS pandemic is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st Century. Global estimates of people living with HIV were 37.8 million as of end of 2003. In Kenya, about 2.2 million people are living with HIV I AIDS. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of HIV I AIDS in the Workplace so as to come up with recommendations relevant to human resource management (HRM). The issue of absenteeism, increased costs and high staff turnover in relation to the HIV I AIDS "pandemic in the Workplace were investigated.

A total of forty four employees of Ultimate Security took part in the study. They were required to respond to a thirty two item questionnaire. The results were analyzed using a one-way ANOV A of the SPSS package. The results of this study are not unequivocal about increased absenteeism, costs and staff turnover due to HIV/AIDS pandemic. Whereas 93.2% of the respondents said HIV/AIDS related absenteeism was not a serious problem (F=5.l94, p<O.OlO), 68.2% were of the view that sickness is the major cause of absenteeism (F=5.069, p<O.OII).

Thirty eight (86.4%) of the respondents indicated that HIV/AIDS has no effects on staff turnover (F=3.l14, p<0.014) while 47.7% said voluntary resignation was the major cause of staff turnover. Increased costs due to HIV/AIDS appear to accrue from care provided by the employer (F=3.260, p<0.05), transport during an employee's funeral (F=4.688, p<O.OI) and other incidentals. However, it was not possible to nail all these expenses to HIV I AIDS. The study concluded that there is no HIV I AIDS policy in the Workplace to train, sensitize and create awareness among employees. It is recommended that the HR managers should put an HIV I AIDS policy in place to fight the pandemic in the Workplace.