Annexes to the Staff Regulations

Annex I

Salary scales and related provisions

1.      The Secretary-General shall establish the salary of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and the salaries of United Nations officials in the Director category and above, in accordance with amounts determined by the General Assembly, subject to the staff assessment plan provided in staff regulation 3.3 and to post adjustments wherever applied. If otherwise eligible, they shall receive the allowances that are available to staff members generally.

2.      The Secretary-General is authorized, on the basis of appropriate justification and/or reporting, to make additional payments to United Nations officials in the Director category and above to compensate for such special costs as may be reasonably incurred, in the interests of the Organization, in the performance of duties assigned to them by the Secretary-General. Similar additional payments in similar circumstances may be made to heads of offices away from Headquarters. The maximum total amount of such payments is to be determined in the programme budget by the General Assembly.

3.      Except as provided in paragraph 6 of the present annex, the salary scales for staff members in the Professional and higher categories shall be as shown in the present annex.

4.      Subject to satisfactory service, salary increments within the Professional levels shall be awarded annually, except that any increments above step VII shall be preceded by two years at the previous step.

5.      Salary increments at the D-1 level shall be awarded annually, except that any increments above step IV shall be preceded by two years at the previous step. Salary increments at the D-2 level shall be awarded biennially.

6.      The Secretary-General shall determine the salary rates to be paid to personnel specifically engaged for short-term missions, conference and other short-term service, to consultants, to Field Service personnel and to technical assistance experts.

7.      The Secretary-General shall fix the salary scales for staff members in the General Service and related categories, normally on the basis of the best prevailing conditions of employment in the locality of the United Nations Office concerned, provided that the Secretary-General may, where he or she deems it appropriate, establish rules and salary limits for payment of non-resident allowance to General Service staff members recruited from outside the local area. The gross pensionable remuneration of such staff shall be determined in accordance with the methodology specified in article 51 (a) of the Regulations of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund and are shown in the salary scales applicable to such staff.

8.      The Secretary-General shall establish rules under which a language allowance may be paid to staff members in the General Service category who pass an appropriate test and demonstrate continued proficiency in the use of two or more official languages.

9.      In order to preserve equivalent standards of living at different offices, the Secretary-General may adjust the basic salaries set forth in paragraphs 1 and 3 of the present annex by the application of non-pensionable post adjustments based on relative costs of living, standards of living and related factors at the office concerned as compared to New York. Such post adjustments shall not be subject to staff assessment.

10.   No salary shall be paid to staff members in respect of periods of unauthorized absence from work unless such absence was caused by reasons beyond their control or duly certified medical reasons.

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

Effective 1 January 2023^a

(United States dollars)

Abbreviations: ASG, Assistant Secretary-General; USG, Under-Secretary-General.

  ^a The normal qualifying period for in-grade movement between consecutive steps is one year. The shaded steps in each grade require two years of qualifying service at the preceding step.

Pay protection measures for staff in the Professional and higher categories whose salaries are higher than the maximum salaries on the unified salary scales, with effect from 1 January 2023, showing annual gross salaries and net equivalents after application of staff assessment

Effective 1 January 2023

(United States dollars)

Annex II

Letters of appointment

         (a)    The letter of appointment shall state:

         (i)     That the appointment is subject to the provisions of the Staff Regulations and of the Staff Rules applicable to the category of appointment in question and to changes which may be duly made in such regulations and rules from time to time;

         (ii)    The nature of the appointment;

         (iii)   The date at which the staff member is required to enter upon his or her duties;

         (iv)   The period of appointment, the notice required to terminate it and the period of probation, if any;

         (v)    The category, level, commencing rate of salary and, if increments are allowable, the scale of increments, and the maximum attainable;

         (vi)   Any special conditions which may be applicable;

         (vii)  That 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;

         (viii) That a fixed-term appointment does not carry any expectancy, legal or otherwise, of renewal or conversion, irrespective of the length of service.

         (b)    A copy of the Staff Regulations and the Staff Rules shall be transmitted to the staff member with the letter of appointment. In accepting appointment the staff member shall state that he or she has been acquainted with and accepts the conditions laid down in the Staff Regulations and in the Staff Rules.

         (c)    The letter of appointment of a staff member on secondment from government service signed by the staff member and by or on behalf of the Secretary-General, and relevant supporting documentation of the terms and conditions of secondment agreed to by the Member State and the staff member, shall be evidence of the existence and validity of secondment from government service to the Organization for the period stated in the letter of appointment.

Annex III

Termination indemnity

         Staff members whose appointments are terminated shall be paid an indemnity in accordance with the following provisions:

         (a)    Except as provided in paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) below and in regulation 9.3, the termination indemnity shall be paid in accordance with the following schedule:

         (b)    A staff member whose appointment is terminated for reasons of health shall receive an indemnity equal to the indemnity provided under paragraph (a) of the present annex reduced by the amount of any disability benefit that the staff member may receive under the Regulations of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund for the number of months to which the indemnity rate corresponds;

         (c)    A staff member whose appointment is terminated for unsatisfactory service or who for disciplinary reasons is separated from service for misconduct other than by dismissal may be paid, at the discretion of the Secretary-General, an indemnity not exceeding one half of the indemnity provided under paragraph (a) of the present annex;

         (d)    No indemnity payments shall be made to:

         (i)     A staff member who resigns, except where termination notice has been given and the termination date agreed upon;

         (ii)    A staff member who has a temporary or a fixed-term appointment that is completed on the expiration date specified in the letter of appointment;

         (iii)   A staff member who is dismissed;

         (iv)   A staff member who abandons his or her post;

         (v)    A staff member who is retired under the Regulations of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund;

         (e)    Personnel specifically engaged for conference and other short-term service, as consultants or as experts, and staff members who are locally recruited for service in established offices away from Headquarters may be paid termination indemnity if and as provided in their letters of appointment.

Annex IV

Repatriation grant

         In principle, the repatriation grant shall be payable to staff members who have completed at least five years of qualifying service, whom the Organization is obligated to repatriate and who at the time of separation are residing, by virtue of their service with the United Nations, outside their country of nationality. The repatriation grant shall not, however, be paid to a staff member who is dismissed. Eligible staff members shall be entitled to a repatriation grant only upon relocation outside the country of the duty station. Detailed conditions and definitions relating to eligibility and requisite evidence of relocation shall be determined by the Secretary-General.