Judgment 3178
114th Session, 2013
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary: The complainant challenges the decision not to grant her a salary increment.
Judgment keywords
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 3138, 3140
Keywords:
complaint dismissed; fixed-term; increment; performance report;
Judgment 2414
98th Session, 2005
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 23
Extract:
"In Judgment 2170 the Tribunal described the requirement of Staff Rule 12.1.5 that an annual performance report be established prior to the scheduled date of a salary increment as 'a formal one' which had to be complied with. It is important to explain why that was so. A staff member whose service is not considered satisfactory is entitled to be informed in a timely manner as to the unsatisfactory aspects of his or her service so that steps can be taken to remedy the situation. Moreover, he or she is entitled to have objectives set in advance so that he or she will know the yardstick by which future performance will be assessed. These are fundamental aspects of the duty of an international organisation to act in good faith towards its staff members and to respect their dignity. That is why it was said in Judgment 2170 that an organisation must 'conduct its affairs in a way that allows its employees to rely on the fact that [its rules] will be followed'."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: Staff Rule 12.1.5 of the ITU
ILOAT Judgment(s): 2170
Keywords:
criteria; due process; duty to inform; good faith; increase; increment; interpretation; organisation's duties; output; patere legem; performance evaluation; performance report; respect for dignity; salary; staff regulations and rules; time limit; unsatisfactory service; work appraisal;
Consideration 24
Extract:
"The fundamental considerations which lead to the conclusion that an organisation must comply with the rules which it has established also dictate the conclusion that it cannot base an adverse decision on a staff member's unsatisfactory performance if it has not complied with the rules established to evaluate that performance." That is true for salary increments as well as for decisions not to convert or renew a contract.
Keywords:
contract; decision; due process; fixed-term; grounds; increase; increment; non-renewal of contract; patere legem; permanent appointment; salary; unsatisfactory service; work appraisal;
Judgment 2350
97th Session, 2004
European Free Trade Association
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 17-18
Extract:
The complainant submits that the behaviour of the Administration towards her amounted to harassment since she got only a one-step salary increase, rather than the two proposed by her supervisor, and only a two-year extension of contract rather than the customary three years. The Tribunal considers that such decisions "were decisions which the Secretary-General was entitled to reach in the exercise of his discretion. That being so, such decisions can only be viewed as part of a campaign of harassment if the other events upon which the complainant relies give rise to an inference that these were taken because of hostility, ill will or other improper motive. The complainant has failed to prove harassment."
Keywords:
burden of proof; cumulative decisions; decision; discretion; duration of appointment; executive head; extension of contract; grounds; harassment; increment; lack of evidence; recommendation; supervisor; working relations;
Judgment 2316
96th Session, 2004
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 19-20
Extract:
The complainant wants to be granted her salary increment to step X retroactively. "The particular circumstances upon which the ITU relies to argue that the complainant should not be granted her step X increment are that the unsatisfactory nature of her services had already been documented prior to the report signed on 3 May 2002 and that she did not cooperate with the establishment of her periodic appraisals. It may at once be noted that the appraisal for the relevant period was not made in May 2002, but in November of that year. Further, and given the complainant's absence on sick leave at various times during the relevant appraisal periods, it is difficult to infer lack of cooperation on her part. However, and more to the point, the matters upon which the Union relies fall far short of establishing that it made a genuine effort to comply with its own procedures, and do not show that the complainant frustrated or sabotaged any such effort. That being so [...], those considerations cannot defeat the complainant's entitlement to her step X increment retroactively. The treatment of the complainant by the ITU is [...] unacceptable."
Keywords:
claim; complainant; date; evidence; increment; liability; organisation; organisation's duties; patere legem; performance report; period; procedure before the tribunal; request by a party; right; sick leave; unsatisfactory service; work appraisal;
Consideration 12
Extract:
The complainant wants to be granted her salary increment to step X retroactively. The ITU asserts that the complaint is inadmissible because in Judgment 2170 the Tribunal stated that those pleas were dismissed. "Judgment 2170 was concerned with the complainant's entitlement to her step VIII salary increment, her pleas regarding entitlement to salary increment for step [...] X being dismissed on the basis that they were not and could not be the subject of her first complaint. That being so, there was no final and binding decision on her present claim either expressly or as a necessary step to the decision that she was then entitled to a step VIII increment. Accordingly, the complaint is not barred by res judicata."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 2170
Keywords:
absence of final decision; claim; complaint; condition; decision; express decision; general principle; grounds; iloat; increase; increment; judgment of the tribunal; receivability of the complaint; refusal; request by a party; res judicata; right;
Judgment 2170
94th Session, 2003
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 14
Extract:
The Organisation withheld the complainant's salary increment on the grounds that more time was needed to assess her performance. It claims that the complainant refused to cooperate with evaluations. "If that were the case, it was the job of the administration to deal with the situation and not to act as if the complainant did not exist[...] while there is no doubt that an employee cannot obtain the right to an annual salary increment by deliberately sabotaging the reporting process, it is equally the case that an employer cannot deprive its staff of the increments to which they are entitled by failing to complete the necessary preliminary steps."
Keywords:
failure to answer claim; grounds; increase; increment; increment withheld; official; organisation; organisation's duties; performance report; procedure before the tribunal; refusal; right; salary; time limit; work appraisal;
Consideration 12
Extract:
The Organisation withheld the complainant's salary increment on the grounds that more time was needed to assess her performance. The Tribunal concludes from the relevant provisions that "the requirement that an annual performance report be established prior to the scheduled date of the annual salary increment is a formal one. The salary increment [...] was not preceded by an evaluation [...] it is the Organisation's responsibility to see to it that [an annual performance] report is prepared on time. a staff member's right to an increment cannot be defeated by the organisation's failure to comply with its own rules."
Keywords:
applicable law; binding character; breach; consequence; date; grounds; increase; increment; increment withheld; official; organisation; organisation's duties; performance report; provision; refusal; right; salary; time limit; written rule;
Judgment 2023
90th Session, 2001
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
"The principle of equal pay for work of equal value applies to the grading of posts [...] Step increases within a grade are not contrary to the principle of equal pay."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: PART II, SECTION 1, PARAGRAPHS 20 AND 30.1 WHO MANUAL
Keywords:
applicable law; equal treatment; general principle; increment; post classification; salary;
Judgment 1500
80th Session, 1996
World Intellectual Property Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
Advancement under Staff Regulation 3.4 "consists in rising by steps: any staff member qualifies for it who meets the conditions of seniority and 'satisfactory service'. Personal promotion means rising in grade without any change in duties and is a benefit that the Director General may bestow at discretion. He does so only in 'exceptional circumstances' to reward someone for services of a quality higher than that ordinarily expected of the holder of the post."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: WIPO STAFF REGULATION 3.4
Keywords:
condition; discretion; executive head; increment; personal promotion; right; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 1446
79th Session, 1995
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 15
Extract:
The grant of an increase for merit is discretionary under Staff Rule 555.1. "By its very nature such a provision cannot confer an acquired right."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: WHO STAFF RULE 555.1
Keywords:
acquired right; condition; discretion; increment; staff regulations and rules;
Considerations 16-17
Extract:
The material issue is whether abolition of the entitlement to a step increase for long service infringed an acquired right by interfering with a fundamental term of service that led the complainants to accept employment. "The Tribunal holds that the prospect of increases in emoluments after 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of satisfactory service was too remote to influence seriously the mind of the ordinary applicant in deciding to accept appointment [within the organization]".
Keywords:
acceptance; acquired right; amendment to the rules; complainant; contract; increment; satisfactory service; seniority; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Judgment 1384
78th Session, 1995
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 18
Extract:
The complainant was accused of stealing computer equipment but no formal proof of this was ever given. The organization decided not to renew his fixed-term appointment on grounds of theft. The Tribunal holds that the complainant "must be put in the same position as if his contract had never terminated and be reinstated as from the date of termination up to the date of this judgment. Since his performance was good he should be granted any within-grade salary increases he would ordinarily have been entitled to. Although any indemnities or earnings from employment after termination may be deducted from the amounts due, he is entitled to the payment of interest on all arrears of pay at the rate of 8 per cent a year from the dates at which each component sum fell due. [...] He is to be granted an appointment for a period of two years starting at the date of delivery of this judgment."
Keywords:
compensation; contract; date; fixed-term; increment; interest on damages; non-renewal of contract; procedural flaw; professional injury; reckoning; reconstruction of career; reinstatement;
Judgment 1163
72nd Session, 1992
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 7 and 9
Extract:
FAO Manual paragraph 308.411 provides for the award of a within-grade salary increment to officials whose service, during a "qualifying period", is satisfactory. The complainant had her annual increment withheld. "Although difficulties were found in the complainant's attitude towards other staff, [her performance reports] do not show such a pattern of conduct as to impair the quality of her work on the assignments she was given. [...] The conclusion is that the conditions in the case law for withholding an increment were not met and that the organization committed a mistake of law in construing and applying 308.411."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: FAO MANUAL PARAGRAPH 308.411
ILOAT Judgment(s): 247
Keywords:
accumulation; case law; condition; conduct; enforcement; grounds; increment; increment withheld; interpretation; satisfactory service; staff regulations and rules; step; unsatisfactory service; working relations;
Judgment 1130
71st Session, 1991
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
The Organisation granted the complainants incremental steps on a provisional basis while awaiting for new salary scales to come into force. The Tribunal holds that "there was nothing unlawful about replacing them several months later with retroactive decisions granting them lower steps."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; increment; provisional decision; reduction of salary; salary; scale; step; withdrawal of decision;
Judgment 1042
69th Session, 1990
Universal Postal Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
The complainant objects to a reckoning giving effect to Judgment 922, which set aside the decision to dismiss him and ordered payment of damages, insofar as the amount he got did not allow him the benefit of a further yearly salary increment. As the complainant's performance had not been declared satisfactory and therefore failed to meet the condition set out in the relevant rules, the Tribunal dismisses the claim.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 922
Keywords:
amount; application for interpretation; condition; increment; material damages; satisfactory service;
Judgment 374
42nd Session, 1979
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"It is clear from the wording of [Judgment 306] that the 'one year's salary' to be paid in lieu of reinstatement is equivalent in the present instance to the salary which the complainant was receiving at the date when his appointment ended, i.e. the net salary which he was paid after deduction of tax at the source but including incidental allowances, and in particular post adjustment. There is no reason however to take account of any increment which he might have received had he remained on the staff."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 306
Keywords:
allowance; amount; application for interpretation; definition; increment; material damages; net salary; post adjustment; salary;
Judgment 294
38th Session, 1977
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 8
Extract:
At issue is a new salary schedule with additional steps in the complainant's grade. "The Director-General was right in thinking that the rule could not be interpreted in a way that would equalise the effect of the change. Where he was wrong was in thinking that he had neither the power nor the duty to equalise the effect of the change by some other means consistent with the principle that the object of the salary scale is to reward length of service and experience. [...] The change [...] required some transitional provision to cover exceptional cases and it was the duty of the Director-General to make such provision."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; enforcement; equal treatment; grade; increment; right; salary; scale; seniority; top step;
Consideration 8
Extract:
The complainant reached the highest step in her grade some years ago. An amendment was adopted introducing three new steps in her grade. She should obtain the successive increments on the date at which she fulfilled the requisite conditions. The Director-General should take steps to ensure that a) the complainant is treated as if at the time the modification was implemented she had been at step XIV for a period of five months and b) each intervener is treated in the same way, according to length of service.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; date; effective date; enforcement; grade; increment; staff regulations and rules; top step;
Consideration 1
Extract:
According to the definition in the applicable provision, the increase from one step to the next higher step is given "on the basis of satisfactory service during a qualifying period [...]. This definition must be considered in the light of well-established practice [...]. In practice [...] the qualifying period is virtually a fixed period and an officer whose increment was withheld otherwise than on the grounds of unsatisfactory service would be recognised as having cause for complaint."
Keywords:
condition; definition; grounds; increment; increment withheld; satisfactory service;
Judgment 251
34th Session, 1975
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
"Although the complainant regularly received his salary increments his work was not always fully satisfactory, as appears from the dossier and is suggested by the failure of his many applications. On the other hand, the successful candidate had been trained for the vacant post and had proved himself fully fit for it. In the circumstances, even though the decision may be open to question, the Director-General did not draw any clearly false conclusions from the dossier."
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; increment; other; qualifications; salary; unsatisfactory service; vacancy;
Judgment 217
31st Session, 1973
International Patent Institute
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
According to the texts bonuses which take account of previous experience form part of the terms of appointment. The complainant was confirmed before the new provisions came into effect. He cannot therefore claim benefit under these new regulations. "He could only do so if that article was retroactive to the date at which the complainant was recruited, which is not the case."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; increment; non-retroactivity; professional experience; provision; seniority; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Judgment 202
30th Session, 1973
International Patent Institute
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
Seniority bonuses are part of the terms of recruitment. Only by retroactive application of the new Staff Rules could the complainant be granted an additional bonus. But the new rules are not retroactive and the complainant's reliance on them is ill-founded.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; enforcement; increment; non-retroactivity; professional experience; provision; seniority; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Judgment 115
18th Session, 1967
World Meteorological Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
Under the applicable provision, the end of the period covered by the report "will normally coincide" with the date of the increment. "It is clear from the use of the word 'normally' that this provision is not mandatory and allows of exceptions to the rule in specific cases", in particular when as in the present case the complainant's service has been interrupted on account of illness and her supervisor understandably wished to discuss matters with her before making an evaluation of her performance.
Keywords:
date; exception; increment; organisation's duties; performance report; sick leave;
Consideration 3
Extract:
"[I]t does not follow that failure to establish an annual report when it is due automatically confers the right to the award of a salary increment". (The applicable provision provides that the end of the period covered by the report should coincide with the date of the increment; this provision is not mandatory).
Keywords:
date; effect; increment; omission; organisation's duties; performance report; period;
