I’m so excited that someone wrote a comment on a post - and it’s a very useful one with more tips and specifics from the experience of Brian Bollinger, ED of Friends of Refugees and former Director of Employment Services at World Relief, both in Atlanta, GA. THANKS BRYAN!:
A-tripla, the main medication Refugees with HIV are prescribed as a retroviral, very often shows up positive as THC. Thousands of drug testing sites do not have that on their list of prescriptions, often because it would be illegal for the drug testing manufacturer to force an HIV positive person to self identify. Self identification almost invariably results in rejection if the job relates to the food industry. That is illegal discrimination, but it is nearly impossible to prove that was the reason for rejection. Incidentally, it’s a big legal gray area that is a Catch-22, either voluntarily violate your right to privacy or voluntarily forfeit the opportunity to ever get a job (either because you have HIV or because they presume you use drugs).
Ever since the travel ban on HIV-positive Refugees was lifted, we have seen more and more of this happen, and that isn’t likely to change. Getting out in front of it is critical and can include such techniques as bringing in printed articles listing the medication from well-reputed medical resources, or being ready and able to go the long distance with immediate paperwork, follow-up blood tests and such when they fail the first test.
And, just because it makes me laugh, the graphic for a little comic relief!
