Bibliography

This study assessed the role of workplace HIV/AIDS committees as a means of workplace governance on HIV/AIDS. In-depth qualitative case studies were conducted in five South African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that were actively implementing HIV/AIDS policies and programmes. Companies commonly implemented HIV/AIDS policies and programmes through a workplace committee dedicated to HIV/AIDS or a generic committee dealing with issues other than HIV/ AIDS. Management, through the human resources department and the occupational health practitioner often drove initial policy formulation, and had virtually sole control of the HIV/AIDS budget. Employee members of committees were mostly volunteers, and were often production or blue collar employees, while there was a notable lack of participation by white-collar employees, line management and trade unions. While the powers of workplace committees were largely consultative, employee committee members often managed in an indirect manner to secure and extend social protective rights on HIV/AIDS to employees, and to monitor their effective implementation in practice. Workplace committees represented one means to facilitate more effective workplace HIV/AIDS governance, but the increased demands on collective bargaining as a result of anticipated rises in AIDS-related morbidity and mortality might prove to be beyond the scope of such voluntary committees in the longer term.