United Nations Common System : Report of the International Civil Service Commission

A/RES/68/253No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 141United Nations common system, published in 2014.

What other versions does this mandate have?

12 versions · 1989–2016

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/70/244

2016A/RES/70/244United Nations common system : report of the International Civil Service CommissionLatestCompare with previous version
2015A/RES/69/251United Nations common system : report of the International Civil Service CommissionCompare with previous version
2014A/RES/68/253United Nations common system : report of the International Civil Service CommissionCompare with previous version
2013A/RES/67/257United Nations common system : report of the International Civil Service CommissionCompare with previous version
2012A/RES/66/235AUnited Nations common system : report of the International Civil Service CommissionCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

3 topics

International Civil Service Salaries and Allowances Separation From Service

What does this mandate say?

19 operative paragraphs

Takes note with great appreciation of the work of the International Civil Service Commission;

Takes note of the report of the Commission for 2013;Error: Reference source not found

Reaffirms the role of the General Assembly in approving conditions of service and entitlements for all staff serving in the organizations of the United Nations common system, bearing in mind articles 10 and 11 of the statute of the Commission;

Recalls articles 10 and 11 of the statute of the Commission, and reaffirms the central role of the Commission in regulating and coordinating conditions of service and entitlements for all staff serving in the organizations of the United Nations common system;

I.Conditions of service applicable to both categories of staff

A.Comprehensive review of the common system compensation package

Recalls paragraph 4 of its resolution 67/257, and requests the Commission to provide to the General Assembly, at the first part of its resumed sixty-eighth session, a briefing on the progress made on the comprehensive review of the common system compensation package;

Welcomes the comprehensive review, affirms the objectives set out in paragraph 31 of the report of the Commission, and requests the Commission to review all remuneration elements holistically in order to achieve those objectives and to safeguard the core values of the organizations of the United Nations common system;

Requests the Commission, in its proposals resulting from the ongoing comprehensive review, to ensure the comparability of the total compensation package in the United Nations common system, including all monetary and non-monetary elements, under the Noblemaire principle;

Also requests the Commission to ensure that the executive heads of organizations and staff federations of the United Nations common system and Member States are duly apprised of the process and have an opportunity to provide their feedback;

Further requests the Commission not to increase any of the allowances under its purview until the comprehensive review decided in resolution 67/257 has been submitted to the General Assembly for its consideration;

Expresses its deep concern about the long-term sustainability of the after-service health insurance scheme within the United Nations system, and in this regard invites the Commission to review, in the context of its annual report, the apportionment of health insurance premiums between the United Nations organizations and participants in both United States and non-United States plans;

B.Mandatory age of separation

Decides to defer its decision on the recommendation of the Commission to raise the mandatory age of separation to 65 years without prejudice to its proposed time frame, and requests the Commission to undertake further analysis, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, on the impact of the adoption of this recommendation on workforce and succession planning frameworks and all relevant human resources management policies, including performance management and appraisal, rejuvenation, gender balance and equitable geographic representation, across the United Nations common system and to report thereon at its sixty-ninth session;

Recalls paragraph 61 of the report of the Commission, in which it is indicated that raising the mandatory age of separation for existing staff to 65 years would result in a marginal reduction in the actuarial deficit of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund in the range of 0.13 per cent of pensionable remuneration;

II.Conditions of service of staff in the Professional and higher categories

A.Base/floor salary scale

Recalling its resolution 44/198, by which it established 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 (the United States federal civil service),

Approves, with effect from 1 January 2014, as recommended by the Commission in paragraph 82 of its report, the revised base/floor scale of gross and net salaries for staff in the Professional and higher categories, as contained in annex III to the report;

B.Evolution of the margin

Recalling section I.B of its resolution 51/216 and the standing mandate from the General Assembly, in which the Commission is requested to continue its review of the relationship between the net remuneration of United Nations staff in the Professional and higher categories in New York and that of the comparator civil service employees in comparable positions in Washington, D.C. (referred to as “the margin”),

Reaffirms that the Noblemaire principle is the basis for the determination of the level of remuneration for staff in Professional and higher categories in New York, the base city for the post adjustment system, and in other duty stations;

Also reaffirms that the range of 110 to 120 for the margin between the net remuneration of officials in the Professional and higher categories of the United Nations in New York and officials in comparable positions in the comparator civil service should continue to apply, on the understanding that the margin would be maintained at a level around the desirable midpoint of 115 over a period of time;

Notes that the margin between net remuneration of the United Nations staff in grades P-1 to D-2 in New York and that of officials in comparable positions in the United States federal civil service in Washington, D.C., for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2013 is 119.6 and that its five-year average (2009–2013) stands at 115.7, which is above the desirable midpoint of 115;

Welcomes the initiative by the Commission to manage the margin actively, following the management procedure approved by the General Assembly, and not to increase the post adjustment for New York in 2014 in view of the elevated level of the margin;

Recalls that the five-year average of the net remuneration margin should be maintained around the desirable midpoint of 115, and requests the Commission to submit to the General Assembly, no later than at the main part of its sixty-ninth session, recommendations on the range of actions and time schedules that would bring the margin back to its desirable midpoint;

C.Children’s and secondary dependants’ allowances: review of the methodology

Takes note of the decision of the Commission to keep the methodology to determine children’s and secondary dependants’ allowances under consideration within the framework of the broader review of the common system compensation package;

Approves the recommendation of the Commission that the current levels of the children’s and secondary dependants’ allowances be maintained;

D.Education grant: special measures

Approves, with effect for the school year in progress on 1 January 2013, the recommendation of the Commission as contained in paragraph 113 of its report;

E.Post adjustment matters

Requests the Commission to review and submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session proposals on synchronizing the post adjustment cycles at headquarters duty stations.

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