STAFF SALARIES, ALLOWANCES AND BENEFITS OUTLINE

Transcription

1 General Conference 31st session, Paris C 31 C/36 17 September 2001 Original: French Item 11.9 of the provisional agenda STAFF SALARIES, ALLOWANCES AND BENEFITS OUTLINE Source: 30 C/Resolution 71, Part II. Background: Under the terms of this resolution, the Director- General was authorized to implement the new seven grade scale applied to staff in the General Service and related categories and also the other recommendations made by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) as from 1 January Purpose: The purpose of this document is to inform the General Conference of the changes that have taken place since its 30th session affecting staff salaries, allowances and other benefits in respect of the two categories of staff and of the decisions taken by the Director-General to apply to UNESCO staff the measures adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and the International Civil Service Commission. Decision required: paragraph 24.

2 31 C/36 Introduction 1. At each of its sessions, the Director-General informs the General Conference of the measures taken in relation to the salaries, allowances and other benefits applicable to the Organization s staff in view of the changes adopted by the organizations participating in the United Nations common system, which includes UNESCO, either by the United Nations General Assembly or by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC). 2. As the General Conference sits once every two years, the Director-General keeps the Executive Board regularly informed of these matters by submitting to it the annual reports of ICSC, and also the resolution adopted each year by the General Assembly on the United Nations common system. 3. Consequently since the 30th session of the General Conference, the Director-General transmitted to the Executive Board, at its 159th and 161st sessions, under cover of documents 159 EX/25 and 161 EX/32, the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth annual reports (1999 and 2000) of ICSC and the related United Nations General Assembly resolutions (namely resolutions 54/238 and 55/223). The decisions adopted by the Executive Board at the end of these two sessions are reproduced in the annexes to this document: 159 EX/Decision 6.8 in Annex I and 161 EX/Decision 7.5 in Annex II. 4. The purpose of this document is thus to inform the General Conference of the changes that have taken place since its last session in relation to staff salaries, allowances and benefits. It is presented in three sections: the first deals with the conditions of service of staff in the Professional category and above and the second with those of staff in the General Service and related categories, while the third section reviews matters being considered. Conditions of employment of staff in the Professional category and above 5. The salaries and other conditions of employment of Professional grade staff and above are determined, in accordance with the Noblemaire principle, by comparison with those applicable to the best paid national civil service. Since the founding of the United Nations, the federal administration of the United States has been the reference. 6. In accordance with United Nations General Assembly decisions and ICSC recommendations, the Director-General has applied to the staff in the category concerned the following measures: (i) (ii) Revision of the gross and net base/floor salary scale by 3.42% with effect from 1 March 2000 and by 5.1% with effect from 1 March 2001, by applying the no gain, no loss principle. The purpose of this measure is to harmonize the net base salaries of Professional grade staff and above in the organizations applying the United Nations common system with the existing levels of remuneration in the reference civil service. Observance of the no gain, no loss principle means offsetting these increases by corresponding reductions in post adjustment, in such a way that net remuneration remains at the same level as in the preceding months. The salary scale that has been in force since 1 March 2001 is reproduced in Annex III. Revision, with effect from 1 May 2000, of the Paris post adjustment classification; the new index reflected an increase of approximately 2.7%.

3 31 C/36 page 2 (iii) (iv) (v) Application, with effect from 1 November 2000, of the revised scale of pensionable remuneration, with an increase of approximately 3.6%. This measure is in accordance with Article 54(b) of the Regulations of the United Nations Joint Pension Fund, which stipulates that this scale shall be adjusted at the same effective date as net remuneration for Professional grade staff and above in New York. Increase in the allowance in respect of a dependent child and the allowance in respect of a secondary dependant of 11.89% with effect from 1 January Revision of the maximum level of reimbursable education expenses and the maximum amount of the education grant in the following five currency areas: United States dollar (only for expenses incurred in the United States), Belgian franc, Swiss franc, Italian lira and Irish pound. The amount of the lump sum for boarding costs, reimbursable in some cases and payable within the limit of the maximum education grant, has also been revised in 16 currency areas, including France (the revision percentages vary from -1.5% to +23% depending on the country, the currency used and the establishment concerned). 7. ICSC conducts, usually every five years, an inter-city survey in order to compare the cost of living in headquarters duty stations (Paris, Geneva, Rome, London, Vienna, Montreal) and Washington with that of the reference city (New York). These surveys are carried out in the framework of the post adjustment system, designed to ensure the same purchasing power for staff in the Professional category and above at the same step of the same grade, regardless of their duty station. 8. In Paris this survey to update the classification of the various headquarters duty stations for salary-adjustment purposes was carried out from 20 September to 5 October 2000 and noted the cost of a number of goods and services, including accommodation. Representatives of the UNESCO Administration and staff, an independent consultant and a representative of the French statistical services were involved in the survey in addition to members of the ICSC Secretariat. In accordance with the established methods, the information collected was then analysed and processed by the ICSC Secretariat and the findings submitted to the Advisory Committee on Post Adjustment Questions (ACPAQ) at its 24th session, which was held in New York from 12 to 20 March At its 53rd session, held in Montreal from 11 to 29 June, ICSC approved the recommendations made to it by ACPAQ. The percentage increases in the new adjustment coefficients (basis September/October 2000) for the six headquarters duty stations and Washington are summarized below: % Geneva 3.9 London 6.9 Montreal 10.8 Paris 8.1 Rome 12.1 Vienna 9.7 Washington 8.4

4 31 C/36 page 3 Conditions of service of General Service staff 10. In 30 C/Resolution 71, Part II, the General Conference authorized the Director- General to introduce the new seven-level scales as well as other recommendations made by the International Civil Service Commission as from 1 January The Director-General thus endorsed the recommendations formulated in that respect by the ICSC, after making some adjustments to reflect more accurately the situation of the staff in service on 31 December The new seven-level salary scales for General Service staff were thus applied with effect from 1 January 2000; all staff members in that category were placed at the same distance in terms of grade and salary from the top of the new scale as they had been from the top of the previous six-level scale, on the basis of the no gain, no loss principle. 11. It should be noted that the new seven-level salary scale was established on the basis of a job classification standard for General Service staff which had been formulated in Since this standard had posed a certain number of problems with regard to the classification of posts, it had been decided: (i) that its application on 1 January 2000 would only be temporary, and (ii) that a new post classification exercise should be undertaken in 2000, on the basis of revised standards taking account of the needs of the Organization. 12. The exercise to review the provisional standard for the classification of General Service staff and assimilated categories was undertaken in March 2000, with the establishment of a Joint Committee composed of representatives of the Administration and the staff which recommended the definition and elaboration of a single standard capable of measuring both administrative and technical posts instead of the dual standard previously in force. 13. Much has been done since March 2000 and assistance with the technical aspects of the exercise was provided by a consultant specializing in this field. As this document is being prepared, the Bureau of Human Resources Management, in cooperation with the representatives of the staff and supervisors concerned, is engaged in establishing a certain number of generic post descriptions covering most of the G posts at Headquarters. Once this operation is completed the Secretariat should be in a position, by the end of 2001, to finalize the technical formulation of the new classification standard and to apply it in practice in the context of the new general classification exercise for G posts at Headquarters. 14. The salary scale and certain allocations for staff in the General Service category and assimilated categories at Headquarters have also been adjusted in line with the methodology and procedures in force. Moreover, with effect from 1 January 2001, net salaries and pensionable remunerations have been adjusted by 1.49% in relation to the amounts applicable as at 1 January The salary scales applicable to this category of staff with effect from 1 January 2001 are reproduced in Annexes IV and V. 15. With regard to the dependency allowances for staff recruited from 1 January 2000, the amounts given below were fixed following the recommendations of the ICSC adopted by the Director-General: 1 January 2000 (FF) 1 January 2001 (FF) - allowance for dependent spouse 14,080 14,080 - allowance for dependent child 10,856 11,008 - allowance for first dependent child of staff member without spouse 21,242 21,358

5 31 C/36 page Since the present amounts for a dependent spouse (FF 17,812) and for a dependent child of a staff member without spouse (FF 21,842) are higher they will be maintained for all staff members benefiting from those allocations on 31 December It should also be pointed out that, in order to take account of certain changes in the French social security and tax systems which came into force in 1997 (generalized social contribution (CSG) and social debt payment contribution (CRDS)), the International Civil Service Commission, at its 52nd session, held in July/August 2000, decided to exclude these two contributions (CSG and CRDS) from the calculation of the net remunerations taken into consideration in the last staff salary survey for General Service staff, a decision which was taken into account in the calculation of the salary scale as at 1 January In view of this decision of the ICSC and further to an internal appeal made by staff members in the category concerned, the Director-General decided to accept the recommendation of the UNESCO Appeals Board (i) to carry out new calculations excluding the CSG and the CRDS for the period , (ii) to pay the corresponding adjustments retroactively to the appellants, and (iii) out of a concern for equity, to extend the application of that decision to all of the staff concerned. Matters under consideration 19. In Part II, paragraph 4, of 30 C/Resolution 71, the General Conference requested the Director-General to negotiate with the staff unions an agreement on standards of conduct for the future servicing of the needs of the Organization and its governing bodies. 20. The Administration started discussions with the representatives of the staff on this subject in 2000 and a draft preliminary memorandum of agreement was submitted to them, in which provision was made for an ad hoc negotiation procedure aimed at preventing and overcoming any difficulties that might arise between the Administration and the staff unions with regard to general staff questions. 21. In view of the importance of this issue, it was agreed that it should first be submitted for consideration by the Advisory Council on Personnel Policies (ACPP), composed of four staff members appointed by the Director-General and four elected on the basis of universal suffrage, whose role is to make recommendations to the Director-General in relation to general staff questions. This Council, which has not met in the last few years, will be expected to play its full part in the reform process already under way as regards staff policy and, as soon as its new composition is known following the ballot organized to elect four of its members, the issue of the agreement with the unions will be brought to the attention of its chairperson. 22. Another matter under consideration is the possible impact on the salaries which the Organization pays to its staff of the introduction in the host State of the law on the reduction of hours of work (35 hours a week). The conclusions of this study, in which the representatives of the staff will be involved, will be submitted in due course to the International Civil Service Commission, which will consider the various implications having regard to its methodology. Conclusion 23. On the basis, inter alia, of the recommendations of ICSC, the United Nations General Assembly, at its fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh sessions, may approve measures affecting the salaries, allowances and other benefits of staff of the United Nations common system. These

6 31 C/36 page 5 measures may come into effect when the General Conference is not in session. During the same period, ICSC could, on its own initiative and by virtue of the authority conferred on it by Article 11 of its Statute, adopt or establish measures affecting the remuneration or other conditions of service of staff members. For these reasons, the General Conference may wish, as it has done in the past, to authorize the Director-General to apply such measures to the staff of UNESCO. 24. The General Conference is invited to consider the adoption of a resolution along the following lines: The General Conference, I Having examined the report of the Director-General on staff salaries, allowances and benefits (31 C/36), Having taken into consideration the recommendations and decisions of the United Nations General Assembly and the International Civil Service Commission relating to measures affecting salaries, allowances and other benefits of the staff of organizations participating in the United Nations common system of salaries, allowances and other conditions of service, Considering the possibility that the International Civil Service Commission may recommend to the United Nations General Assembly measures affecting salaries, allowances and other benefits of the staff of organizations participating in the United Nations common system of salaries, allowances and other conditions of service, Mindful also of the possibility that the International Civil Service Commission may, on its own initiative and by virture of the authority conferred on it by Article 11 of its Statute, adopt or decide on similar measures, 1. Endorses the measures already taken by the Director-General pursuant to the recommendations and decisions both of the United Nations General Assembly and of the International Civil Service Commission, as set forth in document 31 C/36; 2. Authorizes the Director-General to continue to apply to the staff of UNESCO the measures of this kind that might be adopted either by the United Nations General Assembly or, by virtue of the authority conferred upon it, by the International Civil Service Commission; 3. Further invites the Director-General to report to the Executive Board on all these measures and, if he has budgetary difficulties in applying them, to submit to the Board for approval one or more proposals for ways of dealing with such a situation.

7 31 C/36 Annex I ANNEX I 6.8 Annual report (1999) of the International Civil Service Commission and related General Assembly resolution: Report by the Director-General (159 EX/25 and 159 EX/43) TheExecutiveBoard, 1. Having examined document 159 EX/25, 2. Takes note of: (a) the contents of that document; (b) United Nations General Assembly resolution 54/238; 3. Invites the Director-General to continue to ensure the participation of UNESCO in the work of the Commission and to take due account of the results of that work. (159 EX/SR.10)

8 31 C/36 Annex II ANNEX II 7.5 Annual report (2000) of the International Civil Service Commission: Report by the Director-General (161 EX/32 and 161 EX/48) TheExecutiveBoard, 1. Having examined document 161 EX/32, 2. Takes note of: (a) the contents of that document, and (b) United Nations General Assembly resolution 55/223; 3. Invites the Director General to continue to ensure the participation of UNESCO in the work of the Commission and to take due account of the results of that work. (161 EX/SR.13 and 15)

9 ANNEX III 31 C/36 Annex III

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11 ANNEX V 31 C/36 Annex V