The General Assembly,
Having considered the nineteenth annual report of the International Civil Service Commission and other related reports,
Reaffirming its commitment to a single unified United Nations common system,
Strongly supporting the work of the International Civil Service Commission as an independent expert body towards regulation and coordination of the conditions of service of the United Nations common system,
Recalling section II, paragraph 2, of its resolution 45/241 of 21 December 1990, section I, paragraph 5, of its resolution 46/191 A of 20 December 1991 and section I.B of its resolution 47/216 of 23 December 1992,
Noting the changes introduced by the International Civil Service Commission in its working methods that resulted in the full participation of the Coordinating Committee for Independent Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System in the work of the Commission,
Regrets the continued suspension of participation by the Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations in the work of the International Civil Service Commission, and again urges that the Commission and the Federation work towards the re-starting of the dialogue between them;
Recalling section VI of its resolution 46/191 A and section II.C of its resolution 47/216,
Takes note of the programme of work of the International Civil Service Commission outlined in its annual report relating to specific issues regarding the application of the Noblemaire principle, and, in this regard, stresses the universal character of the United Nations;
Recalling section II.A of its resolution 47/216, in which the General Assembly took note of the study by the International Civil Service Commission of the methodology for determining the cost-of-living differential between New York and Washington, D.C., in the context of net remuneration margin calculations, and requested the Commission to submit a report on the application of the methodology to it,
1. Takes note of the decisions of the International Civil Service Commission with regard to the introduction of the new methodology;
2. Notes the net remuneration margin of 114.2 for the calendar year 1993;
3. Also notes from annex VIII to the report of the Commission that the United Nations/United States remuneration ratios range from 186.0 at the P-1 level to 116.5 at the D-2 level, considers that this imbalance should be addressed in the context of the overall margin considerations established by the General Assembly, and reiterates its request to the Commission, contained in section II.G of its resolution 47/216, to make proposals in this regard to it at its forty-ninth session;
Recalling section I.H, paragraph 1, of its resolution 44/198 of 21 December 1989, by which it approved the establishment of a floor net salary scale by reference to the corresponding base net salary levels of officials in comparable positions serving at the base city of the comparator civil service, as well as section V of its resolution 47/216,
1. Approves, with effect from 1 March 1994, the revised scale of gross and net salaries for staff in the Professional and higher categories contained in annex I to the present resolution;
2. Requests the International Civil Service Commission to review and, if necessary, recommend revised rates of staff assessment consequential upon changes in the base/floor salary scale;
Recalling section I.G, paragraph 3, of its resolution 44/198, in which it requested the International Civil Service 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 country while stationed at duty stations located in another country, in order to assess the feasibility of harmonizing practices among organizations,
1. Notes the conclusion of the International Civil Service Commission that the practices followed by the organizations of the United Nations common system were consistent with the provisions of the staff regulations and rules as adopted by the governing bodies of the organizations concerned;
2. Requests the Commission to study the matter further, with a view to harmonizing the practices of organizations with those of the United Nations and to make recommendations thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session;
Recalling its resolution 2480 B (XXIII) of 21 December 1968, section III, paragraph 2, of its resolution 38/232 of 20 December 1983 and section I.A of its resolution 47/216,
1. Decides that organizations wishing to introduce the language incentive scheme to promote linguistic balance should do so within the parameters set out in the report of the International Civil Service Commission and, in this regard, requests all United Nations organizations to pay particular attention to the situation of staff members whose mother tongue is not an official language of the United Nations;
2. Decides also that the organizations that already have a language incentive scheme should ensure that the scheme is in line with the parameters set out in the report of the Commission;
3. Requests the Commission to report on the introduction of the language incentive scheme by the organizations, to review the scheme after taking into account the views expressed in the General Assembly and to report thereon to the Assembly at its fifty-third session;
Recalling section I.A of its resolution 47/216,
1. Concurs fully with the views expressed by the International Civil Service Commission regarding the relationship between hours of work and remuneration as set out in its annual report;
2. Endorses the decision of the Commission to maintain the current common system practice with regard to working hours;
Taking note of paragraph 142 of the report of the International Civil Service Commission,
Requests the International Civil Service Commission to ensure that place-to-place surveys conducted for all headquarters duty stations are fully representative of the cost of living of all staff working in the duty station;
Recalling section XIII, paragraph 4, of its resolution 45/241 and section X of its resolution 46/191 A, by which, inter alia, it requested the International Civil Service Commission to report on its review of the methodology for the conduct of salary surveys of the General Service and related categories at headquarters duty stations,
Recalling also its request to the Secretary-General in section XIII, paragraph 3, of its resolution 45/241 and section III of its resolution 47/216 to submit a report on procedures whereby the Secretary-General and other executive heads could take measures regarding salary scales of the General Service category at variance with recommendations of the Commission only after consultations with the appropriate intergovernmental bodies and the Commission,
Taking note of the note by the Secretary-General, in which he proposes that consultation with the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions be conducted prior to making a decision on the establishment of General Service salaries following a survey carried out by the Commission,
1. Takes note of the decisions of the International Civil Service Commission in respect of its review of the general methodology for surveys of best prevailing conditions of employment at non-headquarters duty stations;
2. Urges organizations to implement the recommendations of the Commission with regard to salary scales for staff in the General Service and related categories, and requests that, in cases where decisions at variance with the recommendations of the Commission are envisaged, the matter be referred to the governing body of the organization(s) concerned;
Recalling section XXVI, paragraph 4, of its resolution 47/219 A of 23 December 1992, concerning the first performance report on the programme budget for the biennium 1992-1993, by which it urged the International Civil Service Commission to review the rates of staff assessment during 1993,
Recalling also its decision 47/459 of 23 December 1992, by which it requested the Secretary-General to review all aspects of the question of staff assessment as they affected the budgets of the United Nations organizations and programmes, taking into account the views of the Commission and the experience of other organizations of the common system, and to present proposals to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session, through the Commission,
1. Adopts, with effect from 1 March 1994, the revised staff assessment scale and consequential amendment to the Staff Regulations of the United Nations, as contained in annex II to the present resolution, for use in conjunction with gross base salaries for staff in the Professional and higher categories;
2. Regrets that it has not received the review of all aspects of the question of staff assessment as requested in its decision 47/459, and requests the Secretary-General to provide the report no later than at its forty-ninth session;
Recalling its request in section XII, paragraph 1, of its resolution 45/241 and section VIII of its resolution 46/191 A that, as a matter of priority, the International Civil Service Commission resume active consideration of the substantive areas covered under articles 13 and 14 of its statute,
Recalling also section VII of its resolution 47/216, by which it urged the Commission to give attention in its work programme to measures designed to promote sound personnel management in the international public service,
1. Notes with appreciation the action taken by the International Civil Service Commission under articles 13 and 14 of its statute with regard to job classification and human resource management, training in the context of human resource development and the status of women in the United Nations common system;
2. Urges the Commission, in this context, to devote further attention to personnel management issues;
3. Takes note of the report of the Commission on the implementation of its decisions and recommendations, submitted under article 17 of its statute, and welcomes the action taken by the World Health Assembly and the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation regarding the extra steps beyond the common system salary scales;
Recalling its resolution 3357 (XXIX) of 18 December 1974, by which it established the International Civil Service Commission for the regulation and coordination of the conditions of service of the United Nations common system,
Noting that judgements regarding the conditions of service of staff, including, inter alia, salary scales for the General Service and related categories and post adjustment for the Professional and higher categories, by either the United Nations Administrative Tribunal or the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation may have a consequential impact for the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund,
Noting also that, while under article 20 of the rules of procedure of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal and under article 17, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation the Chairman of the Pension Board may, on giving previous notice to the President of the Tribunal concerned, intervene in a case if it is considered that the judgement to be given by the Tribunal could affect the administration of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, there are no established mechanisms to ensure that the Pension Fund receives timely notice of such cases and, furthermore, such opportunity is not provided to the Commission by either Tribunal,
1. Notes the administrative and financial implications for the organizations of the United Nations common system of judgements Nos. 1265 and 1266 of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation regarding the salary scale resulting from the General Service salary survey for Geneva conducted by the International Civil Service Commission in 1990;
2. Regrets in this regard that the Commission and the common system organizations, other than the respondent, did not have an opportunity to have their views presented to the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation;
3. Requests the Secretary-General to consult fully with the Commission regarding the methodologies, procedures and rationale used in arriving at its decisions or recommendations that are the subject of appeals before the United Nations Administrative Tribunal and to ensure that the views of the Commission are fully reflected in his submissions to the Tribunal;
4. Also requests the Secretary-General to consult with the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board in the event that the outcome of the appeals mentioned in paragraph 3 above have an impact on the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund;
5. Requests the executive heads of the other organizations of the common system to consult with the Commission and the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board as set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 above, respectively, in similar cases before the United Nations Administrative Tribunal or the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation where they are the respondents;
6. Urges the governing bodies of the organizations of the common system to ensure that the executive heads of their organizations consult the Commission and the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board on all such cases before either Tribunal;
7. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the executive heads of the organizations of the common system, to examine the feasibility of:
(a) Amending the statute of the International Civil Service Commission and/or the relationship agreements between the United Nations and the other organizations of the common system with a view to ensuring a coordinated response in all appeals involving the conditions of service of staff of the common system;
(b) Introducing arrangements similar to those under article 20 of the rules of procedure of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal and article 17, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Court of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation, with established mechanisms for providing timely notice of such cases to the International Civil Service Commission, to enable the Commission to intervene in appeals before those Tribunals involving decisions or recommendations of the Commission or any other common system issues; and to report thereon to the General
and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session.
87th plenary meeting
23 December 1993
