Judgment 990
68th Session, 1990
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
The General Assembly of the United Nations brought in a new scale of pensionable remuneration as from 1 January 1985. The scale, provided for in Article 3.1.1 of the Staff Regulations, did not come into force until 1 April 1985. The complainant's pension, however, was reckoned according to the new scale between 1 January and 31 March 1985. The Tribunal holds that "the ILO is undoubtedly bound [...] by the provisions of the Staff Regulations so long as they remain in force and is therefore liable towards the complainant for the breach of them. That its difficulty is due to the stand taken by the fund cannot alter its liability as employer towards its staff."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 3.1.1 OF THE ILO STAFF REGULATIONS
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; difference; effective date; fund regulations; liability; organisation; payment; pension; pensionable remuneration; provision; reduction of salary; scale; staff regulations and rules; unjspf;
Summary
Extract:
The General Assembly of the United Nations brought in a new, lower scale of pensionable remuneration as from 1 January 1985. That scale, provided for in Article 3.1.1 of the ILO Staff Regulations, did not come into force for officials serving in the organization until 1 April 1985. The complainant's pension was nonetheless reckoned according to the new scale between 1 January and 31 March 1985. She challenges the Director-General's implied rejection of her internal complaint seeking to have her pension reckoned according to the old scale up to 31 March 1985 or, failing that, compensation. The Organization submits that the measure had come to her attention through various channels and that the complaint was out of time. The Tribunal holds that the Staff Regulations contained an explicit provision which set out the staff's rights. The staff were not told of any valid ilo decision not to abide by the Staff Regulations. The Organization's contention that the complaint is irreceivable is mistaken.
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 3.1.1 OF THE ILO STAFF REGULATIONS
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; complaint; difference; effective date; fund regulations; pension; pensionable remuneration; provision; receivability of the complaint; reduction of salary; scale; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 986
67th Session, 1989
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 24
Extract:
Though the Tribunal "has held that the new scale [of pensionable remuneration] impairs the complainants' rights, it cannot now set the amount of their entitlements." Its ruling will therefore be one of principle.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; amount; injury; material damages; pension; pensionable remuneration; reduction of salary; scale;
Consideration 16
Extract:
On 1 April 1987 the ILO brought in a new scale which further lowered pensionable remuneration. Though there is no going back on what was said in earlier judgments, "the complainants may back up their case against the decisions they impugn by citing the earlier ones on the same subject [vide Judgments 832 and 862]. The full set of decisions is material in ruling on the plea of breach of acquired rights even though, if breach there has been, the consequences will touch only the decisions now under challenge."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 832, 862
Keywords:
acquired right; consequence; cumulative decisions; pension; pensionable remuneration; reduction of salary; res judicata; scale;
Considerations 23-24
Extract:
The Tribunal holds that as a result of the further reduction in pensionable remuneration brought in on 1 April 1987 the complainants are "worse off, to an extent [...] that goes beyond the bounds of the ILO's discretionary authority"; the reduction is in breach of the essential terms of their employment. The Tribunal quashes the impugned decisions and makes the following ruling of principle: "if the amount of the pension each of them gets when the 1987 scale is taken into account proves to be at least 3 per cent lower than the amount he or she gets when it is not, compensation shall be due for any loss over and above the 3 per cent."
Keywords:
acquired right; breach; pension; pensionable remuneration; reduction of salary; scale; terms of appointment;
Judgment 960
66th Session, 1989
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
The organisation argues that the complainant's internal appeal against the application of the amended scale of pensionable remuneration was time-barred. The plea fails. The Tribunal holds that "although [the complainant] must have known for over two years that amending the scale would have consequences when she left she could not know what the financial consequences would be."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; amount; consequence; decision; internal appeal; pension; pensionable remuneration; receivability of the complaint; reduction of salary; retirement; scale; separation from service; start of time limit; time bar; time limit;
Consideration 6
Extract:
The purpose of the present complaint is the same as the purpose of the complaints which lead to Judgment 832. The rationale of that judgment and the ruling hold good. The Tribunal declares that "the ILO acted lawfully in adopting the new scale as from 1 April 1985, its decision was not in breach of any promise and did not have retroactive effect, and although it did cause the complainant financial injury the reasons were objective and the extent of the injury admissible."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 832
Keywords:
acquired right; amendment to the rules; non-retroactivity; pension; pension entitlements; pensionable remuneration; reduction of salary; scale;
Consideration 3
Extract:
"The notice [...] that prompted her internal appeal cannot in itself afford grounds for a complaint to the Tribunal since it merely showed the amount of the benefit she would get according to the option she preferred, and that amount is determined by the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. if, as the ILO maintains, that is how the notice is to be construed, the Tribunal may not review the lawfulness of the decision." However, the complainant takes a different line. The complainant's objections, based on Article 8.2 of the ILO Staff Regulations, concern not the amount of her pension, but the fact that account was taken of the new scale of pensionable remuneration which the Director-General had brought in as from 1 April 1985. Therefore, the Tribunal is competent.
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 8.2 OF THE ILO STAFF REGULATIONS
Keywords:
amount; competence; competence of tribunal; decision; pension; pension entitlements; pensionable remuneration; scale; unjspf;
Judgment 936
65th Session, 1988
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 17
Extract:
"The conclusion is that the Council's approval of the new scales is null and void for two reasons: because no reasons for it are stated, and because it takes into account a factor, the Dutch levy, that the rules in force in the organisation do not provide for."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; breach; decision; deduction; duty to substantiate decision; executive body; grounds; provision; reduction of salary; salary; scale; staff regulations and rules; written rule;
Judgment 838
62nd Session, 1987
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
The complainants object to the FAO's adoption of a new scale to determine pensionable remuneration whose effect was to lower their pension entitlements. They submit that the application of certain provisions in the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules is in breach of their acquired rights and the rule against retroactivity. "Their complaints will [...] be receivable only if the application of those Regulations and Rules [causes] them injury. The Tribunal concludes from the material rules that it does not."
Keywords:
cause of action; no cause of action; pension; pension entitlements; pensionable remuneration; receivability of the complaint; reduction of salary; scale;
Judgment 837
62nd Session, 1987
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
See Judgment 838, summary.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 838
Keywords:
cause of action; no cause of action; pension; pension entitlements; pensionable remuneration; receivability of the complaint; reduction of salary; scale;
Judgment 836
62nd Session, 1987
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
See Judgment 838, summary.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 838
Keywords:
cause of action; no cause of action; pension; pension entitlements; pensionable remuneration; receivability of the complaint; reduction of salary; scale;
Judgment 835
62nd Session, 1987
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
See Judgment 838, summary.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 838
Keywords:
cause of action; no cause of action; pension; pension entitlements; pensionable remuneration; receivability of the complaint; reduction of salary; scale;
Judgment 834
62nd Session, 1987
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
See Judgment 838, summary.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 838
Keywords:
cause of action; no cause of action; pension; pension entitlements; pensionable remuneration; receivability of the complaint; reduction of salary; scale;
Judgment 832
62nd Session, 1987
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
As a result of the adoption of a new scale of pensionable remuneration, Article 3.1.1 of the ILO Staff Regulations was amended. "The complainants' case does not rest on breach of any term of their contracts or of any provision of the Staff Regulations. What they are saying is that as applied to them Article 3.1.1 of the Regulations impairs their acquired rights. Their complaints will therefore be receivable if the application of 3.1.1 does cause them injury."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 3.1.1 OF THE ILO STAFF REGULATIONS
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; cause of action; competence of tribunal; condition; enforcement; general decision; individual decision; injury; pension; pensionable remuneration; provision; receivability of the complaint; scale; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 751
59th Session, 1986
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
"It is [...] immaterial that the Committee did not comment on the figures in the new salary scales. [...] In this instance what 'concerns the whole or part of the staff' is the rules for calculating the salaries of staff categories, not the actual amounts individual staff members will be paid".
Keywords:
advisory body; advisory opinion; amendment to the rules; consultation; enforcement; organisation's duties; provision; reckoning; salary; scale; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 3
Extract:
"The plea that no reasons were given for the impugned decision is also unsound. There can be no obligation whatever on the EPO to state its reasons for introducing scales approved by the Council. Such a decision finds its justification quite simply in the administration's position of subordination to the Council."
Keywords:
administrative instruction; amendment to the rules; decision; duty to substantiate decision; enforcement; executive body; general decision; provision; salary; scale;
Judgment 498
48th Session, 1982
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"G staff are recruited largely [in the headquarters country or nearby]. It is therefore only right that as an incentive to recruitment their pay, including family allowances, should be in line with pay scales in [the headquarters country]. Officials in other categories, however, may come from and be required to serve anywhere in the world. For them [...] the [organisation] takes as its standard of comparison the best-paid national civil service." The allegation of unlawful discrimination fails.
Keywords:
criteria; equal treatment; general service category; noblemaire principle; professional category; salary; scale;
Judgment 470
47th Session, 1982
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 8-9
Extract:
The applicable provision "does not state that the official whose post has been abolished shall be entitled to full compensation for the prejudice he has suffered. Instead it contains a schedule setting out the lump sums to be paid in compensation scaled according to years of service." As to the loss of pension rights, the material provision "does not grant the official who has lost his post any compensation over and above that which is prescribed in the schedule".
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 1050.4 F THE PAHO STAFF RULES
Keywords:
abolition of post; material damages; pension; pension entitlements; reduction of salary; scale;
Judgment 382
42nd Session, 1979
World Meteorological Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
"The decision of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to apply the [general service salary] scales which are now in force in its Geneva office was challenged by an official of the United Nations in case no. 225 [...] before the Administrative Tribunal of the United Nations. This Tribunal is satisfied that the United Nations Tribunal is the proper forum for the determination of this issue. That Tribunal upheld as valid the decision of the Secretary-General of the United Nations." The decision taken by the Secretary-General of the WMO to apply those scales therefore stands.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; case law; competence; enforcement; general service category; judgment of the tribunal; scale; unat;
Judgment 380
42nd Session, 1979
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
The experts were not in agreement about the methodology or the salary-scale figures. "In these circumstances it would be natural for [the Director] to contact his staff association in order to ascertain their views and, if necessary, negotiate with them to reach an agreed figure. This is something which a [director] might do even if contact was not prescribed by the Staff Regulations."
Keywords:
collective bargaining; no provision; organisation's duties; reckoning; salary; scale; staff union;
Judgment 323
39th Session, 1977
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
"Bearing in mind that the salary scales are established in consultation and on the basis of [certain] guiding principles, it is [the Director-General's] duty in making revisions to have regard to the guiding principles. Subject to this, his power to fix salary scales under [the applicable provision] is a discretionary one."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; discretion; organisation's duties; salary; scale;
Consideration 20
Extract:
Under the applicable provision, the Director-General is required "to fix [general service] salary scales on the basis of the best prevailing conditions. This is an obligation of a very general character and the Director-General has a very wide discretion as to how he will carry it out."
Keywords:
discretion; flemming principle; general service category; organisation's duties; salary; scale;
Consideration 28
Extract:
According to the organization, the modification of the salary schedule was decided by a legislative enactment of the Council. If this is true, "it means that there is no control whatever over the dealings of an executive body such as the Council with the staff of the organization [...]. Since the Director-General in his dealings with the staff is subject to the control of the Council, it means that an official's contract gives him no rights which the Council cannot nullify and in particular that he is paid his salary ex gratia and not as a matter of contract. In the opinion of the Tribunal this is not the law."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; contract; enforcement; legislative body; right; salary; scale;
Summary
Extract:
Under the "Guiding principles for the determination or revision of conditions of service of staff in the general service category" the reckoning of interim adjustments is straightforward. Whenever the local wage index goes up by 5 per cent an official's salary should also go up by 5 per cent. The complainant had her increase lowered to 1 per cent. The Tribunal finds no evidence in the file that the progressive increase in Italian income tax or that fringe benefits were behind the reduction. It holds that the reduction was either arbitrary or designed to serve some purpose of which it is ignorant.
Keywords:
adjustment; fringe benefits; general service category; reduction of salary; salary; scale;
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 6
Extract:
"it is unnecessary to determine whether the council's decision automatically amended the rule to which the old salary schedule was attached... it is not to be expected that the council would itself consider and provide in detail for all the implications of the change. the council's function in relation to the staff is to settle or approve fundamental conditions of service and basic rights, duties and obligations..."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; competence; decision; executive body; salary; scale; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Consideration 7
Extract:
"It is of course inevitable that, if a salary scale has a maximum figure, there can be no further reward for length of service after the maximum has been reached. Whether this is fair or not [...], it is the same for all."
Keywords:
enforcement; salary; scale; seniority; top step;
Judgment 257
34th Session, 1975
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"The two categories have separate salary scales and are subject to different systems of calculation for variations and adjustments to meet cost of living increases and so forth. The problems stem from the fact that there is no inter-relationship between the two systems with the consequence that, unless special provision is made, promotion could leave the staff member promoted financially worse off."
Keywords:
adjustment; consequence; difference; general service category; professional category; promotion; salary; scale;
Considerations 4-5
Extract:
"After the complainant's promotion the changes which occurred in salary scales and adjustments in the general service category were more beneficial to the staff than those which occurred in the professional category. [...] The consequence is that her annual pension is now [...] less than it would have been if she had not accepted promotion." The complainant ought not to have to suffer from her promotion.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; consequence; general service category; pension; professional category; promotion; reduction of salary; salary; scale;
Judgment 39
7th Session, 1958
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"The adoption of revised salary scales together with a new classification plan [...] cannot in itself be put forward as justification for proceeding to an arbitrary and unfair treatment of officials [...]. Any such system may only be applied in the interest of the organisation and in accordance with the guarantees [set out in the Staff Regulations]; it is only where evidence has been adduced before the Tribunal to show that the organisation failed properly and fairly to observe the terms of an official's appointment and of the [...] regulations applicable that a claim would be in judgment."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; equal treatment; grade; judicial review; post classification; provision; salary; scale; staff regulations and rules;
