China Reiterates Ban on Hepatitis B Tests Over Discrimination Among Job Seekers

StephenW

http://english.cri.cn/6909/2011/02/13/2681s620447.htm
China Reiterates Ban on Hepatitis B Tests Over Discrimination Among Job Seekers       2011-02-13 02:56:36 Xinhua Web Editor: Gong  
The Chinese government has reiterated a strict ban on hepatitis Btests during pre-employment physical examinations as many companiesreportedly violated rules to require hepatitis B tests for jobapplicants.
In a statement released Saturday, the Ministry of Health said thatno health institutions are allowed to provide hepatitis B checks aspart of pre-employment physical tests regardless of whether theexaminees provide consent or not.
On Feb. 10, 2010, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Educationand the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly issueda circular demanding the cancellation of the hepatitis B tests duringthe health checks for school enrollment and employment nationwide.
However, according to a survey released this week, which wasconducted by the non-profit Beijing Yirenping Center, some 61.1 percentof the 180 state-run companies surveyed included hepatitis B checks intheir pre-employment physical examinations.
More surprisingly, 63 companies said that they would never considerhepatitis B carriers for a job or were reluctant to hire such people.
Yu Fangqiang, the principal of the Yirenping Center, said that suchviolations mainly resulted from light punishment for violations andsome health institutions' desire for profits.
According to the survey, employers would only be fined betweenthousands to tens of thousands of yuan if they lose their lawsuits forbias against hepatitis B carriers.
Meanwhile, a worker will spend a lot of time, energy and money to file a lawsuit and collect evidence in order to win.
Liu Xiaonan, an associate professor with the China University ofPolitical Science and Law, called on the government to hammer out aparticular law and set up a special committee to investigatediscrimination cases in order to ensure the rights of workers.
In the statement released Saturday, the health ministry also ordereda careful investigation of all cases of hepatitis B discrimination, andpromised that violators would be exposed and punished in accordancewith laws and regulations.
Medical tests show that hepatitis B virus can only be transmittedfrom mother to child during childbirth or by contact with the blood orother body fluids of an infected person.