I'm a flight attendant and as you know taking meds for HIV can cause some daily issues such as pill taking and side effects. when should I tell my employer if my meds should interfere with my work??

thanks so much, T.Vick

If you drop the first word of your question, you'll have the question I plan to answer.

Your diagnosis is your business. There is no point at which you have to disclose to your employer. The question the law asks is whether you are able to fulfill all of the essential functions of your job, with or without reasonable accommodation. If you can do the job--all of it--then case closed, as I understand it. If you have side effects that limit your ability to fulfill your essential functions, then brainstorm with your doc about changes in your work schedule or routine that could allow you to continue working while you learn to manage the side effects. The ideas you develop become a note to your employer from your doc. It DOES NOT give your diagnosis. It says you are under your doc's care and your doc requests consideration of the following reasonable accommodations.

The note does not go to your supervisor. It goes to your HR person, or your union shop steward, whoever typically negotiates reasonable accommodation requests for your employer.

That's a lot of information at once, but since your employer probably doesn't provide workplace HIV education that covers these things, we get to do this person by person on a website. Please write again if you have more questions!

Safe journeys.