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Lotto Company launches HIV/AIDS workplace policy
Guyana Lottery Company General Manager, Tracey Lewis (second from left) and these other staffers are peer educators
In recognition of the seriousness of HIV/AIDS and as a member company of the Guyana Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBCHA), the Guyana Lottery Company Limited (GLCL) yesterday made an historic move by launching its own HIV/AIDS workplace policy.
The policy, according to General Manager of the Lottery Company, Mrs. Tracey Lewis, was drafted with assistance from GBCHA and takes into account relevant legislation and Codes of Good Practice, including the National HIV and AIDS workplace policy of Guyana and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Code of Practice on HIV and the World of Work.
Lewis, who was recently appointed chairperson of GBCHA, noted that one of the services that is provided by the coalition is that of technical expertise on how to develop a workplace policy. It was with this assistance, she revealed, that the Lottery Company started the process of formulating its own guiding principles.
And according to Lewis, the policy will be updated to comply with any future legislative requirements. The ceremony to launch the policy was held at the company’s Robb Street head office, situated on the ground floor of the General Post Office Building.
Lewis asserted that the move signals that the company is very aware of the impact of the disease on the workplace, and by extension, communities. For this reason, she said, the GLCL decided to commit itself to adopting a positive and constructive workplace policy designed to minimise the impact of HIV/AIDS on its employees and their household dependants and to comply with legislative requirements.
“We acknowledge that stigma and discrimination are major drivers of the spread of HIV and AIDS. Therefore GLCL, including our leaders and employees, will actively support everyone’s right to be gainfully employed, through implementations of policies and programmes that ensure a safe and comfortable work environment and advocacy initiatives that denounce stigma and discrimination in the workplace and community,” Lewis disclosed.
“What we are doing now is to have this become part of our recruitment policy… and really we just want to recognise that we have a healthy workforce. It is not always about the business, and we have launched this today (yesterday) to let our employees know that we need to be more aware about HIV/AIDS.”
As part of the awareness effort, Lewis said, measures will be put in place to spread the word to customers and agents, across the country.
In fact she revealed that the company will commit to implementing an effective awareness and prevention programme for employees, aimed at limiting the further spread of HIV/AIDS, providing support and assistance to employees infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and creating a safe working environment.
Training programmes will be streamlined in this regard even as the company endeavours to open its doors as a testing site as the need arises. Lewis and four others within the employ of the Lottery Company are certified peer educators, and they will be on hand to offer their service to those in need.
According to the General Manager, it is expected that other companies will emulate the move to launch their own HIV/AIDS workplace policies.
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