Judgment No. 851
Decision
THE COMPLAINT IS DISMISSED.
Consideration 10
Extract:
"Some differences will have to be allowed in the content and standard of engineering degrees until there is international standardisation. For an international organisation like the EPO the only fair and practical approach is to demand for an examiner's post the qualifications required for equivalent duties in the applicant's home country."
Keywords
general principle; equal treatment; terms of appointment; professional experience; reckoning; seniority; degree; date; difference
Summary
Extract:
The complainant objects to provisions in the new guidelines which discount periods of professional activity to the detriment of staff members on duty at 31 December 1984, since such experience may, in certain cases, be counted in full only for staff recruited after that date. The Tribunal observes that the Circular concerns recruitment and is intended to draw the skilled people needed by the Organisation. Accordingly, the Tribunal finds that the distinction at issue answers a need within the Organisation.
Keywords
equal treatment; administrative instruction; amendment to the rules; provision; terms of appointment; professional experience; reckoning; seniority; organisation's interest
Considerations 22-23
Extract:
Circular 144 limits total reckonable experience to twelve years. The purpose of this provision is "to deter late-comers and those who would otherwise hamper the advancement of others who have preferred to spend most of their career in the EPO. [This limit] reflects a reasonable policy on recruitment and career development."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: CIRCULAR 144
Keywords
administrative instruction; terms of appointment; career; professional experience; reckoning; seniority; limits; organisation's interest; purpose
Consideration 13
Extract:
"As the Tribunal ruled in Judgment 819 [...], it is not discriminatory to credit military and comparable service in full; indeed the purpose and the effect are to restore parity between those whose professional training has been held up by having to serve in the national interest and those who have been able to get on with their training without discharging that duty."
Reference(s)
Jugement(s) TAOIT: 819
Keywords
equal treatment; professional experience; reckoning; seniority; military service
Consideration 14
Extract:
"There is no breach of the principle of equal treatment in the fact that the guidelines, so as to attract qualified people, set a higher value on a few kinds of experience, particularly those that are closely relevant to EPO work."
Keywords
equal treatment; professional experience; reckoning; seniority; difference
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