Judgment 1074
70th Session, 1991
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
Following a period on unpaid leave for personal reasons, the complainant could not be reinstated under Article 40(3)(d), which entitles him to reinstatement under certain conditions. He alleges breach of the terms of appointment by Eurocontrol. The Tribunal observes that "he is unable to point to any one vacant post corresponding to his grade, category and service in which the organisation have failed to reinstate him. Still less is he able to point to such a series of failures to reinstate him as might raise the presumption of a decision by the organisation never to reinstate him at all".
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 40 OF THE GENERAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT GOVERNING SERVANTS AT THE EUROCONTROL MAASTRICHT CENTRE
Keywords:
compassionate leave; organisation's duties; reinstatement; right; special leave; unpaid leave;
Judgment 991
68th Session, 1990
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
To mark its tenth anniversary celebration the European Patent Organisation granted a bonus to each of "all active permanent employees in post on 1 October 1987". As the complainant was then on unpaid leave "on personal grounds" he did not qualify for the benefit. The Tribunal holds that while the organisation is free to award special bonuses and free to decide who will receive them, it must apply objective criteria when doing so and avoid all arbitrary distinctions. In the instant case the restriction was based on objective criteria founded on provisions in the Staff Regulations.
Keywords:
compassionate leave; consequence; judicial review; leave; organisation's duties; payment; salary; special leave;
Consideration 11
Extract:
"The complainant must have known when he applied for leave that he would have 'non-active status' and that that would affect his entitlement to pay and to the other benefits of employment."
Keywords:
career; compassionate leave; consequence; leave; promotion; salary; special leave;
Judgment 909
64th Session, 1988
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
After using up his entitlement to sick leave on full pay, the complainant was put on half-pay. Having later failed to return to work after being declared fit, he was put on unpaid leave. This decision is found by the Tribunal to be in keeping with the provisions of the Staff Regulations on special leave.
Keywords:
medical fitness; sick leave; special leave; unpaid leave;
Judgment 809
61st Session, 1987
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 17 and 20
Extract:
The complainant "was made to take special leave at full pay. The material provision is [Unesco Staff] Rule 105.2(b): 'in exceptional circumstances staff members may be required to take special leave with pay, this measure being without prejudice to the rights of the staff member'. [...] The organization is not saying that no suitable post was vacant at the time the impugned decision was taken [...] nor does it maintain that it made the efforts it could have made to find a solution. All it does say is that the complainant never applied at the time for a single post. [...] On the broader issue, if the organization's intent was that the decision should be some sort of disciplinary sanction, then it would have perverted Rule 105.2(b)".
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: UNESCO STAFF RULE 105.2(B)
Keywords:
assignment; disciplinary measure; exception; hidden disciplinary measure; organisation's duties; special leave; staff member's duties; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 19
Extract:
In order to justify the imposition of special leave, it "must be shown [...] that use was not made of the special leave for any purpose extraneous to the Organization's interests and that the arrangement was a reasonable though not necessarily the only reasonable way out of the dilemma."
Keywords:
condition; organisation's duties; organisation's interest; purpose; special leave;
Judgment 633
54th Session, 1984
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
"The unconditional acceptance by the complainant of the Secretary-General's offer [...] amounted to a withdrawal of any objection he may have had to the Secretary-General's placing him on leave in the first place. Any question of principle which he might have been able to raise in regard to his being placed on leave otherwise than on his own application, and any distinction he might have sought to draw between annual leave entitlement and accrued annual leave, have been rendered purely hypothetical by his acceptance of the arrangement offered".
Keywords:
abolition of post; acceptance; leave; special leave; unpaid leave; waiver of right of appeal;
Judgment 481
48th Session, 1982
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
Under the Staff Rules, any unauthorised and unjustified absence from duty shall be charged to special leave without pay. "It is for the administration to determine whether or not an official needs permission to be absent from duty and whether to authorise participation in a staff demonstration during working hours." By warning the association that participation in the demonstration set for the next day [to secure recognition of the association] would be treated as unauthorised and unjustified, the Director-General kept within the bounds of his authority.
Keywords:
discretion; enforcement; provision; special leave; staff regulations and rules; staff union; staff union activity; time off; unauthorised absence; unpaid leave;
Judgment 427
45th Session, 1980
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 18
Extract:
"Prima facie it was in the interests of the organization that the complainant's contract should be renewed. [...] It would not be in the interests of the organization [...] that staff members who are free to run for the office of director should not also feel free to do so without fear of suffering adverse consequences. [...] It would be impossible on any objective assessment of the situation to justify as in the interests of the organization a decision to pay the complainant for six months for doing nothing rather than to give him the opportunity of making good his promise [to co-operate]. [...] The Tribunal considers that on the evidence the high probability is that the complainant would have given useful and loyal service to the organization for the rest of his career."
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; organisation's interest; presumption; special leave;
Consideration 14
Extract:
A provision which stipulates that special leave may be granted with full, partial or no pay "for training or research in the interests of the Bureau or for other valid reasons [...] does not give authority to the Director to order special leave for any reason he considers to be valid; the reason must be advanced by the staff member and only then is the Director empowered to judge its validity. The decision to 'place you on special leave' [...] must therefore be quashed".
Keywords:
decision quashed; discretion; executive head; grounds; purpose; special leave; training;
Judgment 416
44th Session, 1980
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
The rights that arise from the performance of duties (remuneration, promotion, guarantee of employment) are suspended until reinstatement. "Reinstatement is [...] subject to two cumulative conditions: first, there must be a vacant post and, secondly, the staff member must be qualified for it."
Keywords:
career; compassionate leave; condition; consequence; qualifications; reinstatement; special leave; vacancy;
Consideration 2
Extract:
Under the applicable provision, a staff member on leave is no longer performing the duties of his former post; although he continues to be an official, the rights arising from the performance of duties [remuneration, promotion, guarantee of employment] are suspended until reinstatement in employment. According to the letter and spirit of the provision, the organisation "may use the vacant post to suit its own interests".
Keywords:
compassionate leave; consequence; special leave; status of complainant;
Consideration 2
Extract:
The complainant failed to meet the requirements for a vacant post and lacked the necessary qualifications for a further post. The decision of the Director-General not to reinstate(*) her "was therefore taken under the authority which [he] enjoys and is not tainted with any mistake of law or any other flaw."
(*) The complainant had taken leave "on personal grounds".
Keywords:
compassionate leave; judicial review; qualifications; refusal; reinstatement; special leave; vacancy;
Judgment 189
28th Session, 1972
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"Whether the complainant did all that [could reasonably be expected of him] to comply with his obligations [under the rule respecting the submission of periodic reports in the event of illness] is open to doubt." The organization had offered to credit the complainant with four days' pay described as "special leave"; the complainant wanted "sick leave pay". The offer was sensible and reasonable and "the making of it left the claim without substance unless it could be said that some question of principle was involved. In the opinion of the Tribunal there is no such question."
Keywords:
cause of action; illness; lack of injury; no cause of action; offer; organisation; refusal; sick leave; special leave; staff member's duties;
Judgment 155
24th Session, 1970
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
Following home leave granted to the complainant at his own request, "the Director-General was obliged to regularise his position. He did so by granting [the complainant] special leave with pay [...] to [...] the date of expiry of his contract. In law this decision is beyond reproach."
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; home leave; non-renewal of contract; special leave;
