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A/RES/44/198

84th plenary meeting

21 December 1989

United Nations common system: report of the International Civil Service Commission

The General Assembly,

Having considered the fifteenth annual report of the International Civil Service Commissionand other related reports,

COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF THE STAFF

IN THE PROFESSIONAL AND HIGHER CATEGORIES

Recalling that, in section III of its resolution 42/221 of

21 December 1987, it requested the International Civil Service Commission to undertake a comprehensive review of the conditions of service of the staff in the Professional and higher categories,

Recalling also the guidance it provided on this comprehensive review in section III of its resolution 42/221, and section I of its resolution 43/226 of 21 December 1988,

Recalling further, in respect of the request contained in section I, paragraph 4 (c), of resolution 43/226, that the overall costs of all the elements of the solutions proposed in the comprehensive review should, as far as possible, be comparable to the costs of the current remuneration system,

Noting that only upon completion of the comprehensive review in all its aspects can the decisions covered in section I of the present resolution be considered final,

Requests the Secretary-General to make all necessary efforts to absorb in 1991 and subsequent years a significant portion of the additional costs arising in respect of the regular budget of the United Nations as a result of the adoption of the present resolution;
Also requests the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chairman of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination, to emphasize to the executive heads of the specialized agencies the importance of assisting the respective governing bodies in taking parallel measures to the same effect;

A. Remuneration structure

Noting with concern that it has not been possible for the Commission to recommend the introduction of a revised remuneration structure,

Takes note of the views of the International Civil Service Commission with regard to the proposal that housing should be treated separately from the rest of the remuneration package and of the decision of the Commission, relating to undertaking further work on remuneration structures, contained in paragraph 196 of volume II of its report;
Urges the Commission to complete its consideration of all issues related to the introduction of a revised remuneration structure for the United Nations common system, including its impact on margin consideration and on the housing needs of staff in hardship duty stations, and to submit its final and complete conclusions to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session;

B. Comparator

Reaffirms that the Noblemaire principle should continue to serve as the basis of comparison between United Nations emoluments and those of the highest-paying civil service - currently the United States federal civil service - which, by its size and structure, lends itself to such comparison;
Endorses the recommendation of the Commission to conduct periodic checks, every five years, to determine which is the highest-paying civil service, and consequently requests the Commission to propose a methodology for carrying out such checks to the General Assembly at its forty-sixth session;

C. Margin considerations

Recalling that, in section I, paragraph 2, of its resolution 40/244 of

18 December 1985, it approved a range of 110 to 120 with a desirable mid-point of 115, for the margin between the net remuneration of officials in the Professional and higher categories of the United Nations in New York and that of officials in comparable positions in the United States federal civil service, on the understanding that the margin would be maintained at a level around the desirable mid-point of 115 over a period of time,

Confirms that the current concept of the margin should continue to apply;
Also confirms that the current margin range of 110 to 120 should continue to apply;

Endorses the methodological approach, as outlined in paragraph 173 (d) of volume II of the report of the Commission,for the calculation of the net remuneration margin;

4. Requests the Commission to continue to report the net remuneration margin on an annual basis;

5. Also requests the Commission to monitor the annual net remuneration margin over the five-year period beginning in the calendar year 1990 with a view to ensuring, to the extent possible, that by the end of that period the average of the successive annual margins is around the desirable mid-point of 115, and to report on the experience gained to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session and, in the mean time, to submit an interim report on the net remuneration margin for the period 1990-1991 to the Assembly at its forty-seventh session;

D. Post adjustment

1. Requests the Commission to reconsider the decision contained in paragraph 250 (a) of volume II of its reportrelating to the granting of

post adjustment increases due to cost of living;

2. Takes note of all other decisions taken by the Commission in respect of the operation of the post adjustment system as reflected in chapter VI of volume II of its report;

3. Endorses, with effect from 1 July 1990, the recommendations contained in paragraph 261 of volume II of the report of the Commission regarding the removal of regressivity from the post adjustment system and the inclusion of pension contributions as a separate item in the post adjustment index, on the understanding that, as indicated in paragraph 262, the current remuneration correction factor and floor protection measures will be discontinued;

4. Instructs the Commission to complete as soon as possible, and preferably by the end of 1991, a round of place-to-place surveys using the methodology outlined in chapter VI of volume II of its report, on the understanding that the surveys at the seven headquarters duty stations and at other duty stations with more than 150 Professional staff members will be finalized by the end of 1990 and that, at duty stations with small numbers of staff members, every effort will be made to utilize to the maximum the external data sources as outlined in paragraph 235 of volume II of the report of the Commission;

5. Requests the executive heads and the staff to co-operate with the Commission during the place-to-place survey process;

6. Requests the Commission to devise appropriate measures to deal with those duty stations where, upon implementation of a place-to-place survey, there exists a significant difference between the post adjustment index and the actual multiplier;

7. Confirms that, following the introduction of the revised salary scale referred to in section I.H, paragraph 3, of the present resolution and pending the outcome of the respective place-to-place surveys in those locations where the index reflected in the post adjustment multipliers exceeds the post adjustment index, net remuneration will continue to be adjusted only to reflect currency fluctuations until the post adjustment index surpasses the index reflected by the post adjustment multipliers;

E. Mobility and hardship

1. Approves, with effect from 1 July 1990, the introduction of a mobility and hardship allowance as outlined in paragraphs 313 to 322 and 328 of volume II of the report of the Commission,an assignment grant as outlined in paragraphs 323 to 327 and the provisions relating to the reimbursement of boarding costs contained in paragraph 329, on the understanding that the amounts indicated in the matrix for staff serving at Headquarters or in North American and European duty stations and similar designated locations will be payable from their fourth assignment only if they have served in at least two field duty stations;

2. Requests the Commission to report to the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session on the operation of the mobility and hardship allowance and the assignment grant;

F. Motivation and productivity

Endorses, with effect from 1 July 1990, the recommendations contained in paragraph 356 of volume II of the report of the Commission concerning structural improvements to the salary scale, which should be appropriately reflected in the scale of pensionable remuneration, and also endorses the recommendation contained in paragraph 357 (a) relating to the modification of promotion policy;
Invites the organizations of the United Nations common system to take appropriate steps to introduce the Commission's recommendations as outlined in paragraphs 357 (d) and (e) in respect of non-monetary awards and environmental motivators;
Invites the Commission again to review performance evaluation systems in all organizations of the United Nations common system with a view to:

(a) Ensuring that such systems are objective and transparent;

(b) Tying within-grade step increments and promotions to merit, as indicated in the performance evaluation reports, rather than primarily to longevity;

G. Allowances

1. Endorses, with effect from 1 July 1990, the recommendations contained in chapter IX of volume II of the report of the Commissionand

the consequential amendment to the Staff Regulations of the United Nations, with respect to:

(a) The children's allowance in respect of disabled children, as outlined in paragraph 429 (e);

(b) The calculation of the commutation of unused annual leave, as outlined in paragraph 453 (d);

2. Takes note of the conclusions of the Commission reflected in paragraphs 406 and 453 (a), (e) and (f) and confirms, with respect to paragraph 453 (b) and (c), that the terms and conditions of payment of the repatriation grant should remain unchanged in all respects;

3. Requests the Commission to collect the necessary information on the practices of the organizations of the United Nations common system regarding the granting of expatriate entitlements to staff members living in their home countries while stationed at duty stations located in another country in order to assess the feasibility of harmonizing practices among organizations, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session;

4. Also requests the Commission to reconsider the methodology for the determination of dependency allowances in the light of the tax practices of the comparator and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session;

5. Further requests the Commission to provide an overview of the package of common system allowances, including the level, rationale and procedure for review of each allowance, inter alia, by reference to the package of allowances provided by the comparator, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session;

H. Base salary scale

Approves, with effect from 1 July 1990, the establishment of a floor net salary level for staff in the Professional and higher categories by reference to the corresponding base net salary levels of officials in comparable positions serving at the base city of the comparator civil service;
Also approves, with effect from 1 July 1990, revised rates of staff assessment for staff members with neither a dependent spouse nor a dependent child, to be used in conjunction with gross base salaries and gross amounts of separation payments and, consequently, approves as at the same date an amendment to the Staff Regulations of the United Nations as set forth in

annex I to the present resolution, to replace, for staff in the Professional and higher categories, the present scale of staff assessment for staff with neither a dependent spouse nor a dependent child;

3. Further approves, with effect from 1 July 1990, the revised scale of gross and net salaries for staff in the Professional and higher categories contained in annex II to the present resolution, and the consequential amendment to the Staff Regulations of the United Nations, together with the procedures for its construction and implementation that are reflected in annex III to the present resolution;

FUNCTIONING OF THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

Recalling that, in section VIII of its resolution 42/221, it requested the International Civil Service Commission to undertake a study of its functioning with a view to enhancing its work,

Recalling also its request to the Commission in section II of its resolution 43/226 to expand the review of its functioning in consultation with the organizations of the United Nations common system and staff representatives and to submit proposals thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session,

Noting that the action of the Commission has been limited so far to considering the format of its annual report and to agreeing to practical arrangements for the conduct of its work during its sessions,

Requests the Secretary-General, together with his colleagues in the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination and after consultations with the representatives of staff participating in the International Civil Service Commission, to review the functioning of the Commission and to submit to the General Assembly at its forty-sixth session a report on the matter together with the views of the Commission thereon and, in the mean time, requests the Commission to maintain, in connection with matters related to comprehensive reviews of conditions of service of staff, the arrangements established in response to the invitation expressed by the Assembly in section I, paragraph 2 of its resolution 43/226;
Requests the Commission to continue to seek improvements in the presentation of its report;

III

OTHERS

Recognizing the changing demographic pattern of the work-force of the United Nations common system, as well as the increasing trend in some Member States towards extending the length of service of its work-force, and noting that in a number of Member States the normal retirement age and the corresponding mandatory age of separation are higher than they are at present in the United Nations common system,

Commends to the attention of the governing bodies of the organizations of the United Nations common system the recommendation of the International Civil Service Commission to increase the mandatory age of separation to 62 for staff members entering into service on or after 1 January 1990;

Recalling its request made in section III.C of its resolution 43/226 that the Commission report to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session on progress made by the organizations of the United Nations common system in connection with the introduction of special measures for the recruitment of women,

Urges the organizations of the United Nations common system to provide the fullest information to the Commission on the introduction of special measures for the recruitment of women so as to enable the Commission to analyse appropriately the progress achieved and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session;

Recalling section II of its resolution 37/126 of 17 December 1982 and section VII of its resolution 42/221 concerning the practice of some Member States of making supplementary payments or deductions with respect to their nationals,

Recalling also its request made in section III.C of its resolution 43/226 that the Commission report on these practices to the General Assembly at its forty-fourth session,

Noting the limited response to the inquiries of the Commission on the matter,

Taking note of the decisions taken by the Commission in paragraph 90 of volume I of its report,including its decision to report further to the

General Assembly at its forty-fifth session on this matter,

Requests the Secretary-General to contact those Member States which have not so far provided information on supplementary payments and deductions to seek their co-operation in providing such information forthwith in order for the Commission to complete its study, which should also include a review of the impact of the introduction of the revised remuneration package on practices currently in effect;
Requests the Secretary-General and the executive heads of the specialized agencies to take appropriate steps to bring an end to these practices.

ANNEX I

Amendment to the Staff Regulations of the United Nations

Regulation 3.3

Replace the last column of the table under assessment in paragraph (b) (i) by the following:

Assessment

(In percentages)

Staff assessment rates used in

conjunction with gross base salaries and

the gross amounts of separation payments

Total assessable payments Staff member with neither a dependent

(United States dollars) spouse nor a dependent child

First $15 000 per year ....................... 17.7

Next $5 000 per year ......................... 34.3

Next $5 000 per year ......................... 38.6

Next $5 000 per year ......................... 41.9

Next $5 000 per year ......................... 43.9

Next $10 000 per year ........................ 46.3

Next $10 000 per year ........................ 48.4

Next $10 000 per year ........................ 50.4

Next $15 000 per year ........................ 51.3

Next $20 000 per year ........................ 54.1

Remaining assessable payments ................ 59.0

ANNEX II

Salary scale for the Professional and higher categories showing annual gross salaries and net equivalents after application of staff assessment

Effective 1 July 1990

(In United States dollars)

S t e p s

Level I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV

Under-Secretary-General

USG Gross .... 121 635

Net D .... 73 050

Net S .... 65 255

Assistant Secretary-General

ASG Gross .... 110 000

Net D .... 67 000

Net S .... 60 485

Director

D-2 Gross .... 89 189 91 251 93 313 95 375 97 438 99 500

Net D .... 56 070 57 163 58 256 59 349 60 442 61 535

Net S .... 51 423 52 369 53 316 54 262 55 209 56 156

Principal Officer

D-1 Gross .... 78 333 80 068 81 834 83 600 85 366 87 132 88 898 90 664 92 430

Net D .... 50 300 51 236 52 172 53 108 54 044 54 980 55 916 56 852 57 788

Net S .... 46 393 47 236 48 047 48 857 49 668 50 479 51 289 52 100 52 910

Senior Officer

P-5 Gross .... 68 611 70 180 71 748 73 317 74 885 76 454 78 022 79 591 81 181 82 779 84 377 85 975 87 574

Net D .... 45 050 45 897 46 744 47 591 48 438 49 285 50 132 50 979 51 826 52 673 53 520 54 367 55 214

Net S .... 41 659 42 423 43 186 43 950 44 714 45 478 46 242 47 006 47 747 48 481 49 214 49 948 50 681

First Officer

P-4 Gross .... 55 818 57 320 58 822 60 324 61 825 63 327 64 829 66 356 67 885 69 415 70 944 72 474 74 004 75 533 77 063

Net D .... 38 050 38 876 39 702 40 528 41 354 42 180 43 006 43 832 44 658 45 484 46 310 47 136 47 962 48 788 49 614

Net S .... 35 346 36 091 36 836 37 581 38 325 39 070 39 815 40 560 41 305 42 050 42 795 43 540 44 285 45 030 45 775

Second Officer

P-3 Gross .... 45 088 46 449 47 811 49 172 50 533 51 895 53 256 54 618 56 015 57 425 58 836 60 247 61 658 63 069 64 480

Net D .... 31 950 32 726 33 502 34 278 35 054 35 830 36 606 37 382 38 158 38 934 39 710 40 486 41 262 42 038 42 814

Net S .... 29 825 30 528 31 230 31 933 32 635 33 338 34 040 34 743 35 443 36 143 36 843 37 543 38 242 38 942 39 642

Associate Officer

P-2 Gross .... 35 831 37 007 38 183 39 359 40 536 41 712 42 888 44 064 45 249 46 467 47 684 48 902

Net D .... 26 490 27 184 27 878 28 572 29 266 29 960 30 654 31 348 32 042 32 736 33 430 34 124

Net S .... 24 856 25 488 26 119 26 751 27 383 28 014 28 646 29 277 29 908 30 537 31 165 31 793

Assistant Officer

P-1 Gross .... 26 857 27 916 28 975 30 034 31 128 32 221 33 315 34 408 35 519 36 649

Net D .... 20 970 21 637 22 304 22 971 23 638 24 305 24 972 25 639 26 306 26 973

Net S .... 19 779 20 394 21 009 21 624 22 238 22 851 23 465 24 078 24 689 25 296

D = Rate applicable to staff members with a dependent spouse or child.

S = Rate applicable to staff members with no dependent spouse or child.

ANNEX III

A. Construction of the salary scale

The salary scale in annex II to the present resolution has been derived from the current net base salary scale applicable to staff with a dependent spouse or child through a combination of the following:

(a) Consolidation of 12 multiplier points of post adjustment on a no gain/no loss basis on the basis of the existing methodology for such consolidation;

(b) Elimination of regressivity in accordance with section I.D, paragraph 3, of the present resolution;

(d) Inclusion, on an overall average basis, of the remuneration adjustment recommended by the International Civil Service Commission in paragraph 125 of volume II of its report;

(e) Determination of gross salary through reverse application of the current staff assessment rates for staff with a dependent spouse or child;

(f) Determination of net salary for staff with neither a dependent spouse nor a dependent child through the application of the revised staff assessment rates contained in annex I to the present resolution.

B. Implementation measures

1. Upon implementation, on 1 July 1990, of the salary scale contained in

annex II to the present resolution, a revised post adjustment multiplier and a revised post adjustment index will be established at each duty station.

2. At the base of the system, New York, the revised post adjustment multiplier applicable on 1 July 1990 will be determined, using if necessary partial classes of post adjustment, so as to arrive at total net emoluments, which, when compared with the corresponding net emoluments that would have been applicable on 1 July 1990 on the basis of the current system, on an overall average basis, represent the percentage adjustment recommended by the Commission in paragraph 125 of volume II of its report.

Revised net base salary plus revised post adjustment.

Using as a reference point United States dollar net emoluments at the P-4, step VI, level.

3. At all other duty stations, the revised post adjustment multipliers applicable on 1 July 1990 will be determined, using if necessary partial classes of post adjustment, so as to arrive at total net emoluments, which, when compared to the net emoluments that would have been applicable on1 July 1990 at that duty station on the basis of the current system, represent an adjustment equivalent in amount to that applicable at the base of the system.

4. After 1 July 1990, at each duty station, the first change in the post adjustment classification resulting from cost-of-living movement will take place when the post adjustment index applicable prior to the introduction of the new salary scale reaches the level that would have triggered the next full class of post adjustment under the operation of the post adjustment system. Thereafter, changes will be effected on the basis of the movement of the revised post adjustment index.

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