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GB.274/12
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Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee |
PFA |
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TWELFTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Decisions of the United Nations General Assembly
on the report of the International Civil
Service Commission
1. At the Governing Body's 273rd Session (November 1998), the Director-General informed the Committee(1) of the principal recommendations and their financial implications concerning officials' conditions of service which were made by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) in its Annual Report to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for 1998.(2)
2. On the recommendation of the Committee, the Governing Body accepted the recommendations of the ICSC, subject to their approval by the UNGA, concerning increases in salary scales (as well as consequential increases in related allowances/payments) for staff in the Professional and higher categories. The Governing Body also accepted other ICSC recommendations proposing increases in family allowances for such categories of staff as well as in the maximum education grant and maximum admissible expenses for eligible staff members at designated duty stations. These approvals by the Governing Body were sought since the measures were to take effect on 1 January 1999 and retroactive adjustments were to be avoided. Subject to their approval by the UNGA, the Governing Body authorized the Director-General to give effect to these measures by appropriate changes to the Staff Regulations.(3) In accordance with the practice established by the Governing Body at its 192nd Session (February-March 1974), the Director-General will report to the Governing Body on these amendments at its 276th Session (November 1999).
3. The present paper reports on the decisions taken by the UNGA at its fifty-third session in 1998 (resolution 53/209 of 18 December 1998) concerning the more important recommendations contained in the ICSC report.
Conditions of service of staff in the
Professional and higher categories
(a) Noblemaire principle and its application
4. The General Assembly again reconfirmed the continued application of the Noblemaire principle (whereby the salaries of Professional staff within the UN common system are determined by reference to those applicable in the civil service of the country with the highest pay levels, currently the United States). The UNGA also reaffirmed the need to ensure the competitiveness of the conditions of service in the common system. The General Assembly noted the ICSC's decision to suspend, until 2001, total compensation comparisons between the German and United States federal civil services for the purposes of establishing the application of the Noblemaire principle. The UNGA requested the Commission to undertake a further study to identify the highest paid national civil service in 2001. The UNGA also noted that the ICSC intended to explore possible solutions to the problems of imbalances in the net remuneration ratios at D.1/D.2 levels within the UN common system and comparable grade levels in the United States federal civil service.
(b) Base/floor salary scales
5. The UNGA approved an increase of 2.48 per cent in the base/floor salary scale for staff in the Professional and higher categories, with effect from 1 March 1999.(4)
(c) Family allowances for staff in the Professional and higher categories
6. The UNGA approved the increase(5) of 14.6 per cent recommended by the Commission in relation to the children's allowance and the secondary dependants' allowance, with effect from 1 January 1999. It also requested the ICSC to undertake an examination of the methodology, rationale and scope of the allowances in the year 2000.
(d) Geneva post adjustment
7. The Committee will recall that the ICSC had reported to the UNGA to the effect that, while it had sought to establish a single post adjustment index for Geneva that would fully reflect the situation of all staff working at the duty station, there were a number of complex difficulties which currently mitigated against establishing such an index.
8. In response, the UNGA requested the Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the post adjustment system as a whole with a view to its reform. This review should be undertaken in the context of preparing for the next round of place-to-place cost-of-living surveys at headquarters, duty stations and Washington, DC, planned for the year 2000. The UNGA asked that the ICSC bear in mind the need to maintain cohesion within the common system and to ensure that the post adjustment at individual duty stations is fully representative of the cost of living of all staff members in the Professional and higher categories working in each duty station. The ICSC has been asked to report to the UNGA on the outcome of this project in the year 2000.
Conditions of service applicable to both categories of staff
9. The UNGA also approved two items reported in November 1998:
- the continued application of the current common staff assessment scale (which is used to determine the level of pensionable remuneration for both Professional and General Service staff): the General Assembly requested the ICSC to review the scale in the year 2000;
- increases in the education grant: these increases took effect from the school year in progress on 1 January 1999; the General Assembly noted the ICSC's decision to review the methodology in the year 2001.
10. The UNGA did not accept the Commission's proposals in relation to changes to the language incentive scheme within the common system. It asked the ICSC to undertake further work and provide a report to the General Assembly in the year 2001. In particular, the Commission was asked to present the rationale for recommending a change to the existing scheme; identify the extent to which such changes will continue to serve as an incentive for increasing multilingualism in common system organizations; establish clearly the basis for determining the incentive levels for both categories of staff; and propose transitional measures.
Other issues
11. During 1998, the Commission commenced work in relation to new approaches to human resources management, in response to the UNGA's concern that ICSC "must play a lead role in the development of innovative approaches in the human resources management field as part of the overall reform currently taking place in the organizations of the common system".(6) The UNGA invited the Commission to include in its review an examination of the reform initiatives taken by all common system organizations (as well as reform efforts outside the common system); ways by which inter-agency mobility might be facilitated; and the possible introduction of specialist pay. The UNGA requested the Commission to report fully on its proposals for a framework for human resources management in 1999.
12. At its 271st Session (March 1998) the Governing Body was informed(7) that the ICSC had established a Working Group on the Consultative Process and Working Arrangements to seek to resolve problems concerning the current operations of the ICSC. Following consultations with representatives of common system organizations and staff bodies, the Commission subsequently adopted a number of changes to its rules of procedure which would enable all parties to ensure that their views are reflected during all phases of the consideration of issues by the ICSC. The General Assembly welcomed the progress made by the Commission in seeking to improve working relations with the organizations and staff bodies and asked ICSC to report progress in the year 2002.
Geneva, 3 February 1999.
1. GB.273/PFA/11.
2. United Nations General Assembly, Official Records, fifty-third session, Supplement No. 30 (A/53/30).
3. GB.273/7/2.
4. Reported to the Committee in GB.273/PFA/11.
5. See GB.273/PFA/11.
6. Resolution 53/209 of 18 Dec. 1998.
7. GB.271/PFA/9.