The 61st session was held in New York from 11 to 22 July 2005.
Broadbanding/reward for contribution
The Commission welcomed the progress
reports from organizations participating
in the pilot study, but it
expressed concern about the direction
that some of the test modalities
were taking, stressing that it had
already determined the modalities
for the pilot and that any deviation
from them would require the Commission’s
prior approval.
FICSA reported on the feedback
given by staff involved in the pilot
study in response to a questionnaire
it had distributed to staff associations
unions of the volunteer organizations.
FICSA reiterated its continuing
opposition to broadbanding and pay
for performance and expressed
scepticism regarding the progress of
the pilot study. The Federation
would continue to follow developments
closely to ensure that there
were no detrimental effects to staff
and that staff were kept properly
informed. FICSA expressed doubts
about the results of a consultant’s
attitude survey that had been conducted
to gauge the reaction of staff
to the pilots. It was proposed therefore
that a system-wide and more
structured and inclusive worldwide
survey be conducted. The HR Network,
however, believed that such a
survey would be premature but that
this did not preclude another survey
down the line, e.g. when going ‘live’
with the new system.
Job Evaluation Master Standard for the Professional and higher categories
After criticizing organizations for
not moving fast enough on the
implementation of the new Master
Standard, the Commission took note of the
report on the status of implementation;
encouraged the organizations to increase the
rate of implementation and endorsed a number
of improvements proposed by the ICSC
secretariat, including a glossary to address
difficulties in interpretation as experienced
currently by classifiers; updated training materials; security provisions; system-wide
access to job illustrations and a virtual network
of HR advisers to share experiences in
using the new system.
FICSA stated that it was only through vigorous
use of this new tool that substantive
feedback and a true assessment could be
made. FICSA pointed out that there were
some staff who were not even aware that a
new Master Standard existed and that some,
including some managers, still lacked sufficient
knowledge, leading to much confusion
and apprehension. FICSA therefore looked
forward to further information to be provided
through the ICSC website, the production of
a glossary and through continued exposure to
the new job evaluation system. The Master
Standard had already had an impact on the
interview process, with an increasing number
of interviews focusing on addressing competencies.
Staff, however, had not been
informed about this shift in focus, sometimes
resulting in a poor performance during the
interview. Thus, there was a need to ensure
that this was fully understood by staff.
Mobility/hardship allowance, hazard pay and strategic bonuses
The Commission adopted new criteria for the
payment of hazard pay that, besides the old criteria
such as war or active hostilities, would
now include exposure to life-threatening diseases
in the course of performance of duties.
FICSA supported the additional criteria.
The Commission also approved changes to
the mobility, hardship, non-removal and
assignment grant scheme that were the outcomes
of two tripartite working groups on
this subject.
The working groups included the Chairman
of the Commission, two Commissioners and
representatives from the organizations,
FICSA and CCISUA and the CEB secretariat.
For both working groups, FICSA was represented
by its Research/Liaison Officer and,
for alternate meetings, the FICSA delegation
included the FICSA Chair of the Standing
Committee on Field Questions and the WFP
Country Director in Colombia.
For the mobility scheme, payments would
be flat amounts and the revised scheme
would now recognize assignments of 7 or
more (unlike the old scheme which was
capped at 6 assignments). The flat amount
would be set at the time of the assignment
and no changes would be permitted for the
duration of the entitlement, unless the Commission
adjusted the amount. No exceptions
would be permitted.
Similarly, payments under the hardship
scheme would be flat amounts, and would be
set at the time of the assignment, with no
changes permitted for the duration of the
assignment, unless ICSC adjusted the
amount. It was proposed that the ICSC
review the flat amounts every three years.
Further details about the schemes can be
found in the Report of ICSC to the UN General
Assembly, Annex II, which will be posted
on the FICSA website in the Members Only
section under ICSC (www.ficsa.org).
It should be noted that FICSA participated
fully in the working groups that developed
the revised schemes, and that good cooperation
had prevailed. It is to be noted that the
new scheme will provide for increased hardship
payments.
If approved by the General Assembly at its
60th session, the new scheme will come into
effect on 1 July 2006. Further work remains
to be done by the organizations and the staff
on developing transitional measures that
would be required to phase in the new
scheme.
Recognizing that there had been no
increase in hazard pay for internationally
recruited professional staff for a number of
years, the Commission decided to establish
the level of hazard pay for internationally
recruited staff at $1,300 as of 1 January 2006.
Also recognizing that the General Assembly
had only fairly recently approved an increase
in the level of hazard pay for local recruited
General Service staff to 25% of the midpoint
of the local General Service salary scale, the
Commission decided to maintain the current
level of hazard pay for this category of staff.
Education grant
The Commission asked the ICSC secretariat to continue its work on the development of proposals to simplify the administration of the education grant, in particular, by using the lump-sum approach. It also requested its secretariat to explore the rationale, feasibility and cost implications of extending the reimbursement for post-secondary studies from four to five years.
UN/US net remuneration margin
The Commission took note of the margin forecast of 111.1, and decided to draw the attention of the General Assembly to the fact that the current level of the margin was 3.9 percentage points below the desirable midpoint of 115.
Base/floor salary scale
The Commission decided to recommend to the General Assembly that the current base/floor salary scale for staff in the Professional and higher categories be increased by 2.49 % on a no-loss, no-gain basis with effect from 1 January 2006.
Noblemaire principle
In the present stage of the review, the Commission looked at several national civil services to assess whether further studies should be carried out to determine if their total compensation was among the highest. The Commission decided to eliminate Germany, Singapore and Switzerland following its initial assessment, but to pursue studying the Belgian civil service. It would also continue the reference check with regard to the World Bank and OECD, and report further at its next session in 2006.
Montreal salary survey
The survey yielded an 8.7% increase for staff in the General Service and related categories in Montreal.
Contractual arrangements – a new framework
The Commission decided to adopt the new
framework for contractual arrangements,
which provides for three types of contract:
continuing, fixed term and temporary. Further
details can be found in Annex IV of the
Report of ICSC to the UN General Assembly,
which will be posted shortly on the FICSA
website.
FICSA has long pointed out the critical
significance of the continuing or permanent
contract to preserving the integrity and
independence of the International Civil Service
System, and its abhorrence at the
abuse of short-term contracts. FICSA participated
fully in the development of the
new framework.
