employment

HIV-positive Koreans worry about being shut out of employment →

pozliving:

This is fucking insane too.

by Um Ji-won, staff reporter

It was a dream job. Back in October, Jeong Myeong-jin, 27, (not his real name) landed a job at a major corporate affiliate.

But while the other successful candidates were rejoicing, he was very troubled. Before being hired on, he had to undergo a physical screening. The checkup form passed out at the designated hospital included a category for human immunodeficiency virus.

Jeong is HIV-positive.

“I had no idea they would do that kind of testing before hiring,” he recalled. “At the hospital, they told me the company insisted on it.”

What the affiliate did was illegal. Article 8, Item 1 of the AIDS Prevention Act, enacted to protect the rights of HIV-positive individuals, states that those performing physical examinations may not notify anyone but the examinee of the test results. Those who violate the law are subject to up to one year in prison and a fine of up to 3 million won (US$2,770).

On the advice of a lawyer, Jeong sent an anonymous statement of opinion to the hospital. The hospital was unaware that it was even illegal to tell a company the results of an individual’s physical screening. In the end, the affiliate conducted all examinations except for an HIV screening. Jeong passed, but his worries remain.

“Even if I make it through one year, there are going to be workplace screenings,” he said. “Every time we have one, I’m going to have to worry about whether they’re going to find out I’m infected.”

HIV-positive people are demanding guarantees on their right to work ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1. The HIV-positive population in South Korea nearly doubled between 2006 and 2011, rising from 4,500 to 8,500. More than half of these people are in their twenties or thirties - right when they are finding employment. But many are giving up on the possibility of a career and resigning themselves to poverty.

Physical screenings for new and existing employees are the major stumbling block. HIV status is not part of the general health screening data that employers have to provide for their workers. It is typically included in hiring tests and workplace screenings only when the company demands it or the hospital offers it as a courtesy. Occasionally, this means that people find out about infections they never knew they had, and end up being summarily ejected from the company.

While most of the public view AIDS as a fearsome contagion, its actual transmissibility is very low. The rate of transmission is on the order of one in a thousand even for unprotected intercourse. And with an 82.2% survival rate, HIV-positive individuals can work freely with regular treatment.

“As treatment methods have developed, other countries have come to see AIDS as a manageable chronic ailment like high blood pressure or hepatitis,” explained Inha University Medical School professor Lee Hun-jae. “Its medical severity is roughly equivalent to diabetes. It poses no problem to working at a company.”

According to Lee, company health procedures that “weed out” HIV-positive employees who are healthy enough to work are merely creating discrimination and stigma.

“A,” 46, who until just a few years ago was working at a mid-sized company in Seoul, was summoned to human resources repeatedly after a regular workplace screening. Having learned that A was HIV-positive, the team said that the health screening “turned up something that is not suited to our work.”

A quit, but had no family to depend on. Treatment costs come out A’s basic livelihood security benefits. The drugs are free for those on basic livelihood security, but once a person starts receiving benefits, the chance of returning to work slips farther out of reach.

The number of HIV-positive beneficiaries like A rose from 962 to 1,210 in the three years between 2008 and 2011. They represent more than 14% of South Korea‘s HIV-population. For the past three years, the government’s annual budget to support HIV-positive individuals in finding jobs has remained stuck at 80 million won (US$73,800).

Gwon Mi-ran of Nanuri Plus, an AIDS human rights advocacy group, said people with HIV end up stuck in a vicious cycle as long as society does not guarantee them the opportunity to work.

“Guaranteeing the right to work is a minimal requirement for HIV-positive people whose lives and finances have hit rock bottom because of the social stigma,” she added.

via TheHankyoreh

Upsetting 

First Day on the JOB

So… I accepted the offer today… and I was asked to start immediately.  yay me! Makin’ coins already.  As usual, I am sick.  I always get sick before some life changing event.  I swear, I probably will meet the love of my life in an emergency room somewhere. 

I’m off tomorrow because of previous obligations that I cannot reschedule; gonna try and make it to the doctor to see what’s up.  Feels viral, so there’s nothing that can really be done.  I hope to be better by Wednesday.

Got to have a J O B (cont) part "Work it OUT!!!"

I got a tentative offer today.  Basically, I was told the job is mine if I want it.  I was not told the salary they looking to offer.  They want me to come in on Monday to finalize everything. 

I told my salary history, so I think I will get something close to that… No matter what comes out of meeting with them on Monday, I know I will be OK. 

The Education Conversation · NewsHourAmGrad · Storify →

Unemployment rate, by diploma: 8.5 percent may be an improvement in the unemployment figure (the lowest it’s been in two years), but a recent study by Georgetown University shows college graduates still have it rough, especially those in architecture and the arts, with unemployment rates of 13.9 percent and 11.1 percent respectively. READ MORE

The Quest for Employment

On one of the days that I did not have a voice… I received a phone call from the organization I interviewed with just after Thanksgiving; they had to leave message because I couldn’t answer the phone.  

My, possibly, soon to be boss stated that I was still in the running for the position and he just has a few more interviews to conduct before making a decision.

#FingersCrossed

Things Just Ain't the Same...

Today… I had an interview… First time I have ever been in group interviews (four candidates, including myself, were interviewed together) We sat in a circle with four of the staff members.  It was interesting… Oh yeah… this is the company.

After the interview I went hurried to the doctor’s office for my appointment.  They removed more precancerous tissue.  Again, precancerous!  Grateful that all of this is being caught now. 

I also weighed myself… I have gained 2 lbs… of course I have! I have not been jogging in about 2 months.  #FAIL… Hopefully, once I am employed, I will be able to join a gym and continue on with my 40 lbs by 40 yo challenge.  I have another organization that wants to interview me next week. 

Life is a lot different than it was over a year ago… who knows if I would have ever gotten these medical procedures done if while I was still using and abusing drugs. I certainly was not employable then. Sitting still for an interview would have been nearly impossible.  

I am in a better place now… things are looking up.  I start training to become a CASAC on December 5th and I see myself being employed soon.  

That’s a beautiful thing!

Got to have a J O B...

Today…. Later today that is, I have a job interview.  I have not interviewed for a job since 2005.  I haven’t had a salary paying job, with benefits, since 2007. 

I started thinking about what I would have done if I were still using drugs when I received the call yesterday to schedule this interview. 

  • I probably would have celebrated by using
  • I probably would have already been high
  • I probably would have agreed to interview and never showed up
  • I probably would have showed up for the interview crashing from using
  • I probably use to give me energy to get to the interview
  • I probably would blame the interviewer for me not getting the job

Those are just a few scenarios.  The thing is, I am in recovery.  If I were still active, I would have never updated my resume; I would have never applied for the position; if I did apply, I would have missed the phone call or just not answered the phone. 

I am a little nervous about the interview, and that is OK.  This is good stress, and I excel, usually, under pressure. 

Whatever happens, this is one interview will at least get my feet wet, and I will grow from this experience.