Appointment and promotion

Article IV

As stated in Article 101 of the Charter, the power of appointment of staff members rests with the Secretary-General. Upon appointment, each staff member, including a staff member on secondment from government service, shall receive a letter of appointment in accordance with the provisions of annex II to the present Regulations and signed by the Secretary-General or by an official in the name of the Secretary-General.

The paramount consideration in the appointment, transfer or promotion of the staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. Due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

In accordance with the principles of the Charter, selection of staff members shall be made without distinction as to race, sex or religion. So far as practicable, selection shall be made on a competitive basis.

Subject to the provisions of Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter, and without prejudice to the recruitment of fresh talent at all levels, the fullest regard shall be had, in filling vacancies, to the requisite qualifications and experience of persons already in the service of the United Nations. This consideration shall also apply, on a reciprocal basis, to the specialized agencies brought into relationship with the United Nations. The Secretary-General may limit eligibility to apply for vacant posts to internal candidates, as defined by the Secretary-General. If so, other candidates shall be allowed to apply, under conditions to be defined by the Secretary-General, when no internal candidate meets the requirements of Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter as well as the requirements of the post.

• (a) Appointment of Under-Secretaries-General and of Assistant Secretaries-General shall normally be for a period of up to five years, subject to prolongation or renewal. Other staff members shall be granted either a temporary, fixed-term or continuing appointment under such terms and conditions consistent with the present Regulations as the Secretary-General may prescribe;
• (b) A temporary appointment does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal. A temporary appointment shall not be converted to any other type of appointment;
• (c) A fixed-term appointment does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal or conversion, irrespective of the length of service;
• (d) The Secretary-General shall prescribe which staff members are eligible for consideration for continuing appointments.

The Secretary-General shall establish appropriate medical standards that staff members shall be required to meet before appointment.

Chapter IV

Letter of appointment

The letter of appointment issued to every staff member contains expressly or by reference all the terms and conditions of employment. All contractual entitlements of staff members are strictly limited to those contained expressly or by reference in their letters of appointment.

Effective date of appointment

The effective date of appointment shall be the date on which staff members enter into official travel status to assume their duties or, if no travel is involved, the date on which they report for duty.

Nationality

• (a) In the application of the Staff Regulations and Rules, the United Nations shall not recognize more than one nationality for each staff member.
• (b) When a staff member has been legally accorded nationality status by more than one State, the staff member’s nationality for the purposes of Staff Regulations and the Staff Rules shall be the nationality of the State with which the staff member is, in the opinion of the Secretary-General, most closely associated.

Staff in posts subject to local recruitment

• (a) All staff in the General Service and related categories, except as stipulated in staff rule 4.5 (c), shall be recruited in the country or within commuting distance of each office, irrespective of their nationality and of the length of time they may have been in the country. The allowances and benefits available to staff members in the General Service and related categories shall be published by the Secretary-General for each duty station.
• (b) National Professional Officers should be of the nationality of the country where the office concerned is located. National Professional Officers may be temporarily assigned outside of the country of their employment to a United Nations field mission for a period not exceeding three months or to any other duty station for a period not exceeding six months under conditions established by the Secretary-General.
• (c) A staff member subject to local recruitment under this rule shall not be eligible to receive payment of the allowances or benefits available to internationally recruited staff members under staff rule 4.5 (a).

Staff in posts subject to international recruitment

• (a) Staff members other than those regarded under staff rule 4.4 as having been locally recruited shall be considered as having been internationally recruited. Depending on their type of appointment, the allowances and benefits available to internationally recruited staff members, may include: payment of travel expenses upon initial appointment and on separation for themselves and their spouses and dependent children; relocation shipment; home leave; education grant; and repatriation grant.
• (b) Staff recruited locally at a duty station for posts in the Professional and higher categories at that specific duty station are considered internationally recruited but would generally not be entitled to some or all of the allowances and benefits mentioned in paragraph (a) above as determined by the Secretary-General.
• (c) Under special circumstances and conditions determined by the Secretary-General, staff who have been recruited to serve in posts in the General Service and related categories may be considered internationally recruited.
• (d) Staff members who have changed their residential status in such a way that they may, in the opinion of the Secretary-General, be deemed to be a permanent resident of any country other than that of their nationality may lose entitlement to home leave, education grant, repatriation grant and payment of travel expenses upon separation from service for the staff members and their spouse and dependent children and relocation shipment, based upon place of home leave, if the Secretary-General considers that the continuation of such entitlement would be contrary to the purposes for which the allowance or benefit was created. Conditions governing entitlement to benefits for internationally recruited staff in the light of residential status shall be set by the Secretary-General as applicable to each duty station.

Geographical distribution

Recruitment on as wide a geographical basis as possible, in accordance with the requirements of staff regulation 4.2, shall not apply to posts in the General Service and related categories.

Family relationships

• (a) An appointment within the same organization shall not be granted to a person who is the parent, child or sibling of a staff member.
• (b) Spouses of staff members may be appointed within the same organization provided that the spouses are fully qualified for the post for which they are being considered and that the spouses are not given any preference by virtue of the relationship to the staff members.
• (c) Staff members who are the spouse, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece or cousin of another staff member
  • (i) Shall not be assigned to serve in a post which is superior or subordinate in the line of authority to that staff member;
  • (ii) Shall not participate in the process of reaching or reviewing an administrative decision affecting the status or entitlements of that staff member.
• (d) The marriage of one staff member to another shall not affect the contractual status of either spouse, but their entitlements and other benefits shall be modified as provided in the relevant Staff Regulations and Rules. The same modifications shall apply in the case of a staff member whose spouse is a staff member of another organization participating in the United Nations common system of salaries and allowances. Where both spouses are staff members and maintain separate households because they are assigned to different duty stations, the Secretary-General may decide to maintain such separate entitlements and benefits, provided that this is not inconsistent with any staff regulation or other decision of the General Assembly.

Change of official duty station

• (a) A change of official duty station shall take place when a staff member is assigned from one duty station to another for a period exceeding six months or when a staff member is transferred for an indefinite period.
• (b) A change of official duty station shall take place when a staff member is assigned from any duty station to a United Nations field mission for a period exceeding three months.
• (c) Assignment of staff members from their official duty station for a conference or under staff rule 4.4 (b) shall not constitute a change of official duty station within the meaning of the Staff Rules.

Inter-organization movements

• (a) Inter-organization movements are defined in and shall be governed by an inter-organization agreement among the organizations applying the United Nations common system of salaries and allowances.
• (b) The Secretary-General may allow staff members to serve in a specialized agency or other intergovernmental organization, provided that such movement in no way diminishes the rights or entitlements of the staff members under their letter of appointment with the United Nations.

Internal candidates and internal vacancies

For the purpose of staff regulation 4.4, the expression “internal candidates” means staff members recruited under staff rules 4.15 (Senior review bodies and central review bodies) and 4.16 (Competitive examinations). Vacancies for which eligibility to apply is restricted to such internal candidates shall be referred to as “internal vacancies”. The conditions under which persons other than internal candidates may apply for vacancies shall be defined by the Secretary-General.

Types of appointment

A staff member may be granted a temporary, fixed-term or continuing appointment under staff rules 4.12, 4.13 and 4.14 below.

Temporary appointment

• (a) A temporary appointment shall be granted for a period of less than one year to meet seasonal or peak workloads and specific short-term requirements, having an expiration date specified in the letter of appointment.
• (b) The appointment of a staff member who has served for the maximum period as described in paragraph (a) above may be renewed for up to one additional year when warranted by surge requirements and operational needs related to field operations and special projects with finite mandates under circumstances and conditions established by the Secretary-General.
• (c) A temporary appointment does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal. A temporary appointment shall not be converted to any other type of appointment.

Fixed-term appointment

• (a) A fixed-term appointment may be granted for a period of one year or more, up to five years at a time, to persons recruited for service of a prescribed duration, including persons temporarily seconded by national Governments or institutions for service with the United Nations, having an expiration date specified in the letter of appointment.
• (b) A fixed-term appointment may be renewed for any period up to five years at a time, under conditions established by the Secretary-General.
• (c) A fixed-term appointment does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal or conversion, irrespective of the length of service, except as provided under staff rule 4.14 (b).

Continuing appointment

• (a) A continuing appointment is an open-ended appointment.
• (b) Staff members recruited in the Professional category upon successful completion of a competitive examination pursuant to staff rule 4.16 shall be granted a continuing appointment after two years on a fixed-term appointment, subject to satisfactory service.
• (c) The Secretary-General shall prescribe the criteria determining staff members’ eligibility for consideration for continuing appointments.

Senior review bodies and central review bodies

• (a) Senior review bodies shall be established by the Secretary-General to review and provide advice on recommendations for the selection and managed mobility of senior staff. The Secretary-General shall decide on the membership and shall publish the rules of procedure of the senior review bodies.
• (b) Central review bodies shall be established by the Secretary-General to review and provide advice on recommendations for selection of staff regarding positions of a duration of one year or longer in the Professional and higher categories up to the D-1 level, the Field Service category and the General Service and related categories, except for advice on the appointment of candidates having successfully passed a competitive examination, which shall be given by boards of examiners, in accordance with staff rule 4.16 (Competitive examinations).
• (c) Each central review body shall be composed of staff members holding a fixed-term or continuing appointment, whose rank is not below that of the level of the post to which appointment, selection or promotion is contemplated, as follows:
  • (i) Members selected by the Secretary-General;
  • (ii) Members selected by the appropriate staff representative body;
  • (iii) The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, or an authorized representative, as an ex officio non-voting member.
• (d) Each central review body shall elect its own chair.
• (e) The rules of procedure of the central review bodies shall be established and published by the Secretary-General.
• (f) Executive heads of separately administered programmes, funds and subsidiary organs of the United Nations to whom the Secretary-General has delegated the authority to appoint, select and promote staff may establish advisory bodies to advise them in the case of staff members recruited specifically for service with those programmes, funds or subsidiary organs. The composition and functions of such advisory bodies shall be generally similar to those of the central review bodies established by the Secretary-General.

Competitive examinations

• (a) Boards of examiners established by the Secretary-General shall ensure the regularity of the competitive examinations administered in accordance with conditions established by the Secretary-General.
• (b) Boards of examiners shall make recommendations to the Secretary-General in respect of the following:
  • (i) Appointment to P-1 and P-2 posts that are subject to the system of desirable ranges and to posts in the Professional category requiring special language competence at the United Nations Secretariat shall be made exclusively through competitive examination;
  • (ii) Recruitment to the Professional category at the United Nations Secretariat of staff from the General Service and related categories having successfully passed the appropriate competitive examinations shall be made within the limits established by the General Assembly. Such recruitment shall be made exclusively through competitive examination.
• (c) Staff members appointed to the Professional category after a competitive examination shall be subject to mandatory reassignment, under conditions established by the Secretary-General.

   

Reinstatement

• (a) A former staff member who held a fixed-term or continuing appointment and who is re-employed under a fixed-term or a continuing appointment within 12 months of separation from service may be reinstated under conditions established by the Secretary-General.
• (b) On reinstatement, the staff member’s services shall be considered as having been continuous, and the staff member shall return any monies received on account of separation, including termination indemnity under staff rule 9.8, repatriation grant under staff rule 9.12 and payment for accrued annual leave under staff rule 9.10. The interval between separation and reinstatement shall be charged, to the extent possible, to annual leave, with any further period charged to special leave without pay. The staff member’s sick leave credit under staff rule 6.2 (Sick leave) at the time of separation shall be re-established; the staff member’s participation, if any, in the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund shall be governed by the Regulations of the Fund.
• (c) A former staff member who held a temporary appointment and who is re?employed under a temporary or fixed-term appointment shall not be reinstated regardless of the duration of separation from service.
• (d) A former staff member who held a fixed-term or continuing appointment and who is re-employed under a temporary appointment shall not be reinstated regardless of the duration of separation from service.

Re-employment

• (a) A former staff member who is re-employed under conditions established by the Secretary-General shall be given a new appointment unless the staff member is reinstated under staff rule 4.17.
• (b) The terms of the new appointment shall be fully applicable without regard to any period of former service. When a staff member is re-employed under the present rule, the service shall not be considered as continuous between the prior and new appointments.
• (c) When a staff member receives a new appointment in the United Nations common system of salaries and allowances less than 12 months after separation, the amount of any payment on account of termination indemnity, repatriation grant or commutation of accrued annual leave shall be adjusted so that the number of months, weeks or days of salary to be paid at the time of the separation after the new appointment, when added to the number of months, weeks or days paid for prior periods of service, does not exceed the total of months, weeks or days that would have been paid had the service been continuous.

Medical examination

(a) Staff members may be required from time to time to satisfy the United Nations Medical Director or Medical Officer designated by the United Nations Medical Director, by medical examination, that they are free from any ailment likely to impair the health or safety of others.

(b) Staff members may also be required to undergo such medical examinations and receive such inoculations as may be required by the United Nations Medical Director or Medical Officer designated by the United Nations Medical Director before going on or after returning from mission service.