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STAFF RULES OF THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT
TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT, SELECTION AND PROMOTION
Rule 104.1 Types of Employment
(a) Employment in the General Secretariat shall be of one of the following types:
(i) Permanent staff members, who shall make up the career service;
(ii) Staff members on contract for a limited time;
(iii) Staff members in positions of trust, appointed at the discretion of the Secretary General to hold the posts so defined in Rule 104.4. Such appointments shall last as long as the Secretary General is in office and the appointees enjoy his confidence;
(iv) Local professional staff members with professional degrees contracted as specialists to work in accordance with the labor laws of the country in which they provide services as determined by the Secretary General, as specified in Rule 104.18;
(v) Temporary Support Personnel, as specified in Rule 104.19, who are contracted locally and to the extent feasible, in accordance with the conditions of the duty station in which they serve, for the sole purpose of providing support services to temporary projects, observer missions, and other temporary activities carried out by the General Secretariat in the Member States, and
(vi) Associate staff members are persons temporarily appointed primarily to perform functions of a professional, technical, administrative, or scientific nature, in accordance with agreements or contracts concluded with other institutions participating in programs of common interest, or to provide services ad-honorem with the authorization of the institutions to which they belong, as specified in Rule 104.17.
(b) No staff member who is working under contract, whether for a limited time, through an appointment to a position of trust, as a local professional, or as an associate staff member, regardless of the terms of the contract or the nature of the functions or tasks he is performing or has performed, may be considered a career service member; this does not preclude his right to compete to enter the career service if he otherwise meets the conditions established for that purpose.
(c) The General Secretariat may also contract consultants and other services through general performance contracts and specialized performance contracts for the provision of language services and conference-related services. Persons performing services pursuant to those contracts shall not be staff members or employees of the General Secretariat and shall not have the benefits of staff members and employees under these Rules.
The career service shall be governed by the following principles:
(a) General provisions
(i) The career service is composed of those staff members who held permanent appointments as of December 31, 1982, and of those who subsequently enter that service in accordance with this Rule.
(ii) Career-service status is independent of the post, functions, or tasks performed. Career staff members shall perform, without losing that character, any function, task, or post corresponding to their grade which the Secretary General, taking into account their abilities and the needs of the service, may deem it appropriate to assign them.
(iii) Inherent in the status of career-service member shall be the right not to be separated from the service except on the grounds expressly set forth in Chapter X of the present rules.
(iv) The Secretary General shall give preferential consideration to members of the career service and, other conditions being equal, to those of greatest seniority in it, to fill vacancies and to continue in service when reductions are made in the staff of the General Secretariat.
(b) Competition for entry into the career service
(i) Entry into the career service shall in all cases be on the basis of competition open only to staff members who, as of the closing date for the presentation of applications, have served continuously for the three- year period immediately preceding that date. Staff members who hold a position of trust shall not be eligible unless they served at least three years continuously under a non-trust appointment prior to being nominated to their trust position. Staff members who joined the General Secretariat after November 25, 1985, must, in addition, have been selected through competition to occupy a post pursuant to Rule 104.5 and must occupy a post funded by the Regular Fund at the closing date.
(ii) Entry into the career service may take place only when a vacancy exists in the category to which the candidate belongs. The competition referred to in the preceding subparagraph shall take place once a year, on a date determined by the Secretary General.
(iii) The Department of Human Resource Services shall notify the staff of the competition at least 30 days before it is to take place, so that those interested may present their candidacies with information and documentation supporting their qualifications. The Department shall also organize all documentation pertaining to the competition, complete it when necessary, and submit it to the Advisory Committee on Selection and Promotion referred to in the subparagraph (iv) below, so that the Committee may formulate its recommendations to the Secretary General.
(iv) The Secretary General shall establish an Advisory Committee on Selection and Promotion to advise him in selecting those candidates who shall enter the career service as well as candidates to fill vacancies in accordance with Staff Rule 104.5. The Committee shall be composed of the following members: the Assistant Secretary General, who shall act as Chairman; staff members appointed by the Secretary General from the different areas of the General Secretariat and who are at least at the P-5 grade level; and the President of the Staff Association or his representative. The Director of the Department of Human Resource Services, or his representative, will act as secretary, with voice but no vote.
(v) The Secretary General shall select staff members for entry into the career service taking into account the principles established in Article 18 (b) of the General Standards and the evaluation of the services rendered by the candidates.
(vi) The number of available career service slots for any grade in the competition shall not exceed one half of the eligible candidates for that grade so as to assure that a true competition on the merits is realized.
(vii) Failure to pass a certified test demonstrating proficiency in two official languages of the Organization is a bar to entry into the career service. The test shall be administered as directed by the Director of the Department of Human Resource Services.
Rule 104.3 Employment for a Limited Time
Employment for a limited time shall conform to the following provisions:
(a) The contract shall specify the fixed term of its duration and the date of its expiration.
(b) Notwithstanding the fixed term agreed upon, and without prejudice to the provisions of Chapter X, if the object of the employment was to carry out a specific program or attain a stated purpose:
(i) The contract shall expire before the conclusion of the fixed term agreed upon if, in the opinion of the Secretary General, the specific program has ended or the stated purpose has been attained, in which case the person concerned shall be notified as provided for in Rule 110.4; or
(ii) The contract may be extended by mutual agreement if the Secretary General decides that the specific program shall continue or that the stated purpose has not yet been achieved, in which case the extension shall record the fixed term of its duration and the date of its expiration.
(c) A contract for a limited time does not confer any right either to renewal or to conversion into another type of appointment. This does not preclude the possibility of its being renewed by mutual agreement.
(d) Contracts for a limited time are of four kinds:
(i) Short term, when the duration is no more than three years and the staff member is not appointed by way of the selection process set out in Staff Rule 104.5. No staff member may serve for more than three years under one or more short term contracts, regardless of whether the service is non-consecutive.
ii) Special Observer Contracts ("SOCs"), which are short-term contracts specifically governed by the provisions set out in Appendix C of these Rules.
(iii) Long-term, when their duration is between one and five years and the staff member is appointed by way of the selection process set out in Staff Rule 104.5; however, any contract between one and five years not financed by the Regular Fund and for which the competition has been waived pursuant to Staff Rule 104.5 (d) is also a long term contract. Any extension of a long-term contract, although for less than one year, carries with it the rights of a long-term contract.
(iv) Part-time, when their duration is for a fixed term agreed upon but the staff member is required to serve the General Secretariat for half of the normal daily working hours at the duty station.
(e) Except as provided in subparagraphs (f) (i) and (ii) below, staff members contracted for a limited time shall be entitled to receive, in addition to their salary, such benefits as these Rules establish in each case on the basis of the total length of their continuous service in the General Secretariat. The benefits to which the staff member is entitled shall appear in the contract.
(f) The following special provisions shall apply to part-time contracts:
(i) The remuneration and benefits to which holders of such contracts are entitled shall be half of those due to holders of other limited-time contracts of the same duration.
(ii) The length of all periods of "continuous service" referred to in these Rules shall in each case be twice that required of other staff members.
(iii) The periods prescribed in these rules for giving or receiving notice shall be calculated on the same basis as for other limited-time contracts.
(iv) Leave, once accrued, shall be taken in the same manner as for other limited-time contracts.
(a) The following shall be considered positions of trust: Executive Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Advisers to the Secretary General and to the Assistant Secretary General, Executive Advisers of the Executive and Assistant Secretaries, the Directors of the Offices of the General Secretariat Away from Headquarters, and the directors and deputy directors of the Departments (including Units, Divisions, and Offices equivalent in structure and responsibility to Departments) and organs as the Secretary General may determine; however, after January 1, 1998, the posts of Directors of the Offices of the General Secretariat Away from Headquarters shall not be trust positions.
(b) The Secretary General may appoint to a position of trust any staff member, whether or not he belongs to the career service, or any person from outside the General Secretariat.
(c) Although appointments to occupy positions of trust are for an indefinite period, those appointed from outside the General Secretariat to occupy such posts shall initially be entitled, in addition to their salary, to the benefits corresponding to employment for a term of more than two years.
(d) When the Secretary General terminates the appointment of a person who holds a position of trust, he shall give the person concerned the notice provided for in the last paragraph of Rule 110.4, except in the case of a member of the career service. In the latter case, the person shall have the right to continue in that service through transfer to a post of the same grade as the one he held before his appointment to the position of trust at a step no lower than the step he would have been entitled to had he not served in the trust position. If the Secretary General cannot relocate him, the staff member will be considered affected by a reduction in force, in conformity with Rule 110.6.
Rule 104.5 Competition for Filling Vacant Posts
(a) Except as provided in Section (b) below, the Secretary General shall fill all vacant posts in the General Secretariat by the competitive selection process set out in this Rule.
(b) The Secretary General may fill the following posts without competition:
(i) Positions of Trust;
(ii) Posts to be filled by staff members under contract for a limited time for up to three years;
(iii) Posts by extending at the same grade, the limited time contract of an incumbent who has already been selected for that post or for another of that grade through competition;
(iv) Posts financed by funds other than the Regular Fund and which are filled by staff members under contract for a limited time when a competition is not convenient.
(v) Posts filled through the transfer, in accordance with Rule 105.2, of a staff member who has already been selected through competition for a post of the same grade or whose new post falls under any other of the exceptions stipulated in this or the next paragraph.
(c) The determination of whether a contract for a limited time financed by the Regular Fund for between one and three years requires a competition shall be made by the Director of Human Resource Services on a case by case basis, upon the request of the Director of the dependency requesting the appointment. Normally, those requests shall be granted for contracts for work on special projects or activities having a definite beginning date and termination date and which do not commence before or expire after those dates. The requesting Director must include in the request a statement as to why the Director believes the appointment without competition is in the interest of the General Secretariat, together with information on the corresponding project or activity sufficient to enable the Director of Human Resource Services to take the appropriate decision.
(d) The determination of whether a contract for a limited time financed by funds other than the Regular Fund for between one and five years requires a competition shall be made by the Director of Human Resource Services on a case by case basis, upon the request of the Director of the dependency requesting the appointment. Normally, those requests shall be granted, provided the requesting Director explains to the satisfaction of the Director of Human Resource Services why the holding of a competition is not convenient, in light of the interests of the General Secretariat.
(e) Any person who has served under contracts for a limited time financed by the Regular Fund for a total of three years, consecutive or non-consecutive, is ineligible to continue serving the General Secretariat under such contracts unless that person is selected through competition.
(f) When the Department of Human Resource Services receives a request to fill a vacant post through competition, it shall publish an announcement of the vacant post. That announcement shall be based on specifications drawn up by the director of the Department or Office concerned. Before publishing the announcement, the Department of Human Resource Services shall review, analyze, and, if necessary, correct these specifications, to ensure that they are in accord with the Classification Standards and with the personnel policies of the General Secretariat. The announcement shall be published not less than 21 days before the closing date for submitting applications.
(g) Once the period indicated in the announcement of the vacant post has ended the Department of Human Resource Services shall send to the director of the Department or Office involved a list of the candidates, indicating which of them appears to fulfill the requirements specified in the announcement, and the documentation pertaining to each. After a review of the information received, and after such interviews as he may deem necessary, the director shall, within 60 days, recommend the candidate he believes should be selected and, if possible, one or two additional candidates whom he also considers suitable. That recommendation shall be sent through the proper channels to the Department of Human Resource Services, so that it may be presented to the Advisory Committee on Selection and Promotion along with any observations and recommendations that the Department of Human Resource Services may consider appropriate.
(h) The Department of Human Resource Services shall convoke a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Selection and Promotion ("the Committee") established under Staff Rule 104.2(b)(iv), or the corresponding sub-committee of that ACSP, to take place within 30 working days after receipt of the recommendation from the pertinent area.
(i) The Committee shall review the information and recommendations presented to it and make its own recommendation to the Secretary General with such explanations as may be warranted. The Committee’s recommendation shall be presented to the Secretary General by the Chairman within five working days after a decision has been reached.
(ii) The Chairman of the Committee ("the Chairman") or the Secretary General, by way of Directive, may designate a subcommittee for the purpose of expediting and facilitating the Committee’s work. Any subcommittee so designated must include, but is not limited to, the President of the Staff Association or his/her representative and at least two other staff members who are at least at the grade of the post under consideration.
(iii) If a subcommittee is charged with the work of the Committee under this Rule, that subcommittee shall present its recommendation to the Chairman within five working days after taking a decision. The Chairman may, at his/her discretion, send the subcommittee’s recommendation directly to the Secretary General with the Chairman’s observations or refer the case to the full Committee for its recommendation. If the matter is referred to the full Committee after prior evaluation by a sub-committee, the Chairman shall present the recommendations of both the sub-committee and the full Committee to the Secretary General within five days of the full Committee’s decision. If the Chairman decides not to refer the matter to the full Committee, he/she shall present the subcommittee’s recommendation to the Secretary General within five days of receiving it; however, the Secretary General may remand the matter for a recommendation of the full Committee prior to making the selection.
(i) Competitions shall be open to both internal and external candidates except when, in the opinion of the Director of the Department of Human Resource Services, a sufficiently large number of suitable candidates is available among the existing staff. In that case, and also when a vacancy results from the reclassification of an occupied post, the competition may be restricted to internal candidates. The Department of Human Resource Services shall seek to encourage broad participation by qualified candidates.
(j) At any stage of the process prior to his final decision, the Secretary General may cancel a competition.
(k) For purposes of these Rules, the following posts shall be considered vacant: a post not occupied by an incumbent duly appointed in accordance with these Rules; a reclassified post occupied by an incumbent who has not been appointed to that post for a period of a year or more by way of the competitive selection process required under Staff Rules 103.7 and 104.6 and Articles 18(c) and 41 of the General Standards; however, an unoccupied post which is "frozen" or not filled for budgetary reasons is not to be considered a vacant post.
(a) In making their recommendations, the Department or Office director concerned and the Advisory Committee on Selection and Promotion must take into account the following factors:
(i) Efficiency, competence, and integrity primarily, but with due consideration of the need for the staff at all levels to be selected on the basis of as wide a geographical representation as possible;
(ii) Selection without regard to race, creed, or sex;
(iii) Preference to nationals of member states unless, in exceptional circumstances, the needs of the service require the appointment of nationals of other states; and
(iv) For a professional-level appointment, the corresponding university degrees and/or professional license, or demonstration of the conceptual abilities and skills normally held by persons with the corresponding university degree and/or license, by way of satisfactory performance on a standardized university degree equivalency examination equal or similar to the examination given by the United Nations Secretariat for that purpose.
(b) Other conditions being equal, preference shall be given:
(i) First, to members of the career service and, other conditions being equal, to those having the most seniority in it. In the event that two equally qualified candidates have equal seniority in the career service, the preference shall be given to the one with the longest continuous service in the General Secretariat; and
(ii) Secondly, to other members of the staff and, other conditions being equal, to those having the longest continuous service.
(c) If, when a post occupied by a member of the career service is reclassified, he is not selected, the Secretary General shall attempt to transfer him to a vacant post: (i) which has the same grade as the post he occupied prior to its being reclassified and (ii) for which he meets the minimum requirements. If the Secretary General cannot relocate him, the staff member will be considered affected by a reduction in force, in conformity with Rule 110.6.
Rule 104.7 Employment Offer and Acceptance
(a) Once the Secretary General has made his decision on the selection of a person to occupy a post in the General Secretariat, the Department of Human Resource Services shall send the person selected an offer of employment, which shall state:
(i) That it constitutes an official offer of employment;
(ii) The nature and terms of the employment;
(iii) The duties and responsibilities of the post concerned;
(iv) The duty station;
(v) The employee's obligation to undergo a medical examination as required under Rule 104.8 in the country in which he is living at the time he receives the offer, and to submit the report to the General Secretariat; furthermore, that the offer is contingent upon the report being acceptable to the General Secretariat;
(vi) His obligation to present documentary evidence of his professional or academic degree or of his technical training, or his professional license, if he has not already done so;
(vii) The date and place where he shall report for duty;
(viii) Information on travel arrangements;
(ix) That the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat and the Staff Rules form part of the contract and that the contract may be changed to the extent that the General Standards and Staff Rules may be amended;
(x) The salary and benefits to which he will be entitled; and
(xi) The period within which he must accept the employment offered and the manner (cable, letter, etc.) in which he should send his reply.
(b) The offer of employment shall be accompanied by a copy of the chapter of the General Standards referring to personnel, a copy of the Staff Rules, a copy of the Retirement and Pension Plan, and a copy of any other internal normative issuances of the General Secretariat applicable to the employment relationship to which the offer refers.
(c) The offer of employment shall not take effect until the corresponding appointment is issued. For the appointment to be issued, the General Secretariat must have found acceptable the physical examination referred to in Rule 104.8 and must have received the following documents duly signed by the candidate:
(i) This acceptance of the employment offer; and
(ii) The statements specified in Rule 101.7 (a) and (b) and, when applicable, the statements specified in Rule 101.7 (c).
(d) When the person selected is a member of the career service, the Department of Human Resource Services shall send him, instead of an offer, the notification of his appointment to the vacant post. When the person selected is a staff member under contract, his previous contract will be rescinded and a new one will be issued without the need to repeat in this case any procedures of the previous appointment that, in the opinion of the Department of Human Resource Services, are redundant.
(e) As provided in Rule 103.3(b), staff members who do not have express written authorization to make binding offers of employment are prohibited from making such offers. Any offer of employment extended without such authorization shall be invalid, and the staff member making that offer may be subjected to disciplinary sanctions and may be required to make restitution to the General Secretariat under Staff Rule 101.3.
Rule 104.8 Physical Examination and Inoculations
(a) Before the appointment is formalized, every person from outside the General Secretariat who is selected to fill a vacant post for 6 months or more shall undergo a physical examination to determine whether he meets the physical conditions necessary to perform the job. This examination shall be made by a doctor recommended and paid for by the General Secretariat. A report shall be sent to the General Secretariat. During their employment, staff members shall undergo physical examinations whenever the Department of Human Resource Services so requires.
(b) Staff members may also be required to undergo such medical examinations and receive such inoculations as may be required by the Department of Human Resource Services before they begin working for the General Secretariat and also before they go on or after they return from mission service.
Rule 104.9 Effective Date of Employment
The employment of any staff member recruited locally shall be effective as of the date when he begins to perform his duties; for a staff member recruited internationally, it shall be effective as of the date when he begins his official travel to assume his post or, if he does not have to travel, as of the date on which he begins to perform his duties.
Rule 104.10 Probationary Period
(a) Every long-term contract is subject to the condition that the person concerned shall serve, starting on the date on which he assumes possession of his post, a probationary period of 6 months, which, in exceptional circumstances, can be extended by the Secretary General. Any extension of the probationary period must be decided and the person concerned notified at least 30 days before the expiration of the current probationary period. In no case may the probationary period exceed a total of 12 months.
(b) The Secretary General may terminate the services of a staff member at any time during the probationary period when he considers it in the interest of the Organization. A staff member terminated under this Rule shall receive 30 days' notice of his termination or, in lieu thereof, the equivalent of 30 days' salary and benefits from the date of the notification to him. The General Secretariat shall, when applicable, pay the expenses of repatriating the person and transporting his personal effects or household goods.
(c) If a staff member is not terminated from service within the first 5 months of his probation, an evaluation of his work performance will be made within the last month of his regular probationary period or of its extensions, as applicable. If the evaluation is satisfactory, the conditions of the probation shall be considered fulfilled. If it is not satisfactory, the services of the staff member shall be terminated in accordance with paragraph (b), above.
(d) If no evaluation is performed of the staff member within the probationary period, his performance will be presumed to be unsatisfactory and he will be terminated effective the last day of the probationary period or its extension, and he shall be paid 30 days' notice as specified in paragraph (b), above.
(e) The evaluation performed under this Rule is not governed by the terms of Rule 105.9. It shall be in narrative form and prepared by the staff member's supervisor or the director of the Department to which the staff member is assigned. The narrative shall evaluate, against the requirements and functions set out in the job description (or vacancy notice if no job description is available) the staff member's efficiency, competence, and integrity during the probationary period up to the date of the evaluation.
Rule 104.11 Continuity of Service
(a) The reemployment of a former staff member of the General Secretariat shall be considered a new appointment and shall be governed by the provisions pertaining thereto without taking into account the previous period of service, except as provided in paragraph (b) below.
(b) If the former staff member had belonged to the career service and fewer than 12 months have elapsed since the date of his separation (or longer if the separation was due to disability as defined by the Retirement and Pension Plan) he may request reinstatement to the service of the General Secretariat at the time of his application. This reinstatement of an ex-career staff member does not imply that he will retain his career status; his eventual re-entry into the career service shall be subject to the provisions of Rule 104.2(b). On reinstatement, he shall return to the Organization any monies he received on account of separation and his service shall be considered as having been continuous; the interval between separation and reinstatement shall be considered special leave without pay. The staff member's reinclusion in the Retirement and Pension Plan shall be governed by the provisions of that Plan.
Rule 104.12 Information Required of Staff Members
(a) Within a month following his appointment, if he has not already done so, a staff member shall present documentation on his nationality, marital status, dependents, and home country, and whatever other documents may be necessary to support his administrative status, in accordance with the General Standards and these Rules. He must notify the Department of Human Resource Services promptly, in writing, of any subsequent changes in his status.
(b) The Secretary General may at any time request a staff member to supply any additional information on his background, qualifications, integrity, conduct, or service that may be relevant to his employment as a staff member.
(c) A staff member who is arrested, charged with an offense other than a minor traffic violation, or summoned before a court as a defendant in a criminal proceeding or convicted, fined, or imprisoned for any offense other than a minor traffic violation shall immediately report that fact to the Secretary General.
(d) The refusal or failure of a staff member to provide the information required under this Rule promptly and completely may result in disciplinary action, including dismissal from service.
Rule 104.13 Nationality and Immigration Status
(a) The General Secretariat shall recognize only one nationality for each staff member.
(b) When a staff member has more than one nationality, his nationality for the purposes of these Rules shall be that agreed upon at the time of his appointment.
(c) In order to preserve geographic distribution, members of the career service should maintain the nationality they had at the time they entered it.
(d) Any staff member who wishes to change his immigration status in the country in which he is performing his duties shall notify the Department of Human Resource Services in writing before presenting an application to the competent authorities of that country. The Department of Human Resource Services, in turn, shall inform the staff member as to the possible consequences of the change.
Rule 104.14 Family Relationships
(a) No appointment to the staff of the General Secretariat shall be granted to the following relatives of a staff member: spouse, son or daughter, stepson or stepdaughter, father or mother, stepfather or stepmother, brother or sister, half brother or half sister, stepbrother or stepsister, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, first cousin, father- or mother-in-law, son- or daughter-in-law, or brother- or sister-in-law.
(b) If two staff members marry, the benefits and entitlements to accrue to them shall be modified to conform to the pertinent provisions of these Rules and other administrative issuances of the General Secretariat. Efforts shall be made to see that they do not work in the same department after the date of their marriage.
Rule 104.15 Local and International Recruitment
(a) The following staff members shall be regarded as locally recruited for purposes of these rules:
(i) All local professional staff members;
(ii) All general services staff members; and
(iii) All staff members assigned to international professional and trust positions located in their home country as designated under Staff Rule 106.4, or in a country in which they have established legal permanent resident status.
(b) Internationally recruited staff members shall be all those staff members who are not locally recruited. Unless otherwise stated in these Rules, the allowances and benefits generally available to internationally recruited staff members include payment of travel expenses upon initial appointment and upon separation for themselves and their spouse and dependent children, moving expenses for household effects, home leave, the repatriation grant, the education grant, and the assignment allowance.
(c) A staff member who enjoys the benefits accorded internationally recruited staff members under these Rules will lose those benefits: (i) if he becomes a permanent resident or citizen of the country of the duty station to which he is assigned or (ii) if he is subsequently transferred and assigned to a duty station which is defined as his home country under Rule 106.4.
(d) A staff member regarded as locally recruited shall not normally be eligible for the benefits accorded internationally recruited staff; however, the Secretary General, when he considers it in the interest of the Organization, may commit the Organization to pay moving expenses and the installation allowance to:
(i) Any locally recruited staff member recruited from a place within the country of the duty station more than one hundred miles from the duty station; or
(ii) Any general services staff member who is recruited to serve in a trust position within the Office of the Secretary General from a place one hundred miles or more outside the city of the duty station.
Rule 104.16 Independent Contractors
(a) Persons whose services are retained under a performance contract of any kind, including, but not limited to, language and conference services contracts, are independent contractors; they are neither staff members nor employees.
(b) No independent contractor is entitled to the conversion of his contract to an employment contract, by judicial order or otherwise. An independent contractor who nonetheless claims entitlement to any employment-related rights or benefits, including those set out in these Rules, must comply with the obligations hereunder, including, but not limited to, those governing the timely petition for Hearing and Reconsideration under Chapter XII of these Rules, and any such claims shall be limited by all restrictions governing those rights or benefits, including, but not limited to, those provided under Rule 103.11.
(c) The benefits and rights conferred upon staff members and other employees under the Charter, these Staff Rules, the General Standards, the resolutions of the General Assembly, and other administrative issuances shall not be applicable to independent contractors.
(d) The relationship between the independent contractor and the General Secretariat shall be governed exclusively by the express written terms of the performance contract they sign and the terms set out in this Rule and the corresponding administrative issuances.
(e) All disputes between independent contractors and the General Secretariat shall be resolved through binding arbitration, unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing by the parties.
(f) Performance contracts may be executed under expedited procedures established by the Secretary General for the purposes of providing temporary language and conference-related services.
(g) Consultants are independent contractors retained under a special performance contract to perform temporary consulting services. In addition to paragraphs (a) - (f) above, the following shall apply to all performance contracts for consulting services:
(i) In establishing the level of compensation, the Secretary General shall take into account: (a) the nature of the services to be performed, i.e., the complexity, difficulty, and degree of expertise required; (b) the time required to undertake the work and the market rate for comparable work; and (c) the necessity of obtaining the service required for the lowest possible cost.
(ii) Except as otherwise specified in the pertinent administrative issuances of the General Secretariat, no person shall serve as a consultant for more than 11 consecutive months in any 12 month period.
(iii) Unless otherwise specified in the pertinent performance contract, consultants shall neither seek nor accept instructions regarding their services for the General Secretariat from any government or from any authority external to the Organization of American States. During the period of their services for the General Secretariat, they may not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the discharge of their duties with the Organization. They are required to exercise the utmost discretion in all matters of official business of the Organization. They may not communicate at any time to any other person, government, or authority external to the General Secretariat any information known to them by reason of their association with the General Secretariat which has not been made public, except in the course of their duties or by authorization of the Secretary General or his designate; nor shall they at any time use such information to private advantage. These obligations do not lapse upon the cessation of their service with the General Secretariat. Failure to comply with these obligations is cause for termination of the performance contract.
(iv) Unless the performance contract otherwise provides, the General Secretariat shall be entitled to all property rights, including but not limited to patents, copyrights and trademarks, with regard to material which bears a direct relation to, or is made or produced in consequence of, the services provided to the Organization by a consultant. At the request of the General Secretariat, a consultant shall assist in securing such property rights and transferring them to the Organization in compliance with the requirements of the applicable law.
(v) Consultants shall be remunerated on the basis of the time required to perform the services specified in the contract at an agreed daily, weekly, or monthly rate of payment, or on the basis of a lump-sum payment representing the value of the services to the Organization. If the services of the consultant are provided free of charge, the contract may be issued with nil remuneration for the purpose of providing the consultant with the appropriate status while he is performing the services specified in the agreement and in order to cover travel and related expenses as appropriate.
(vi) The total remuneration payable to a consultant shall be specified in gross terms, and the consultant shall not be entitled to the payment or reimbursement of any taxes due on the remuneration or to any other benefit, payment, or subsidy which is not expressly provided for in the contract under which he is engaged.
Rule 104.17 Associate Staff Members
(a) Associate staff members are temporarily appointed primarily to perform professional, technical, administrative, scientific, or support functions in accordance with agreements or contracts with other institutions participating in programs of common interest, or to provide services ad-honorem with the authorization of the institutions to which they belong.
(b) Associate staff members are considered staff members solely for the purposes of securing for them the privileges and immunities necessary for them to carry out their functions as personnel of the General Secretariat and for integrating them into the administrative structure of the project or activity to which they are assigned. They are not staff members for any other reasons, and they are not entitled to any of the rights and benefits of staff members set out in these Rules and in the General Standards. The terms of their relationship with the General Secretariat, including their compensation and emoluments, shall be established exclusively in the agreement between the institution to which they belong and the General Secretariat.
Rule 104.18 Local Professional
(a) Local professional staff members are specialists recruited at the duty station where they are to work. They are not subject to international assignment, have the corresponding professional degrees and/or licenses, and are associated with the General Secretariat by a labor contract in accordance with the labor laws and practices of the country in which they provide services, unless otherwise stated herein. These staff members need not be nationals of the country in which they work; however, they must have the appropriate documentation that allows them to work legally in the duty station.
(b) Salaries for local professional staff members shall be established in accordance with market conditions at a level no lower than the amount paid for work of a similar nature under the corresponding national legislation of the duty station, and no greater than the salaries paid by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for work of a similar nature.
(c) Unless otherwise expressly stated in these Rules, in the contract document signed by local professionals, or in the regulations published by the Secretary General pursuant to paragraph (g) below, the benefits and rights accorded staff members under the General Standards, these Rules, the resolutions of the General Assembly, and other administrative dispositions of the Organization, shall not apply to local professional staff members.
(d) Local professionals are bound by the obligations set out in Chapter I of these Rules and the provisions set out in Articles 26, 28 to 36 of the General Standards. The Secretary General may terminate the services of a local professional for any of the reasons set out in Articles 57 and 59 of the General Standards, or for any of the reasons provided under the local law of the corresponding duty station.
(e) All disputes arising between local professionals and the General Secretariat shall be resolved by binding arbitration, unless otherwise agreed by the parties. In no event, however, shall the General Secretariat be liable to a local professional for any amount in excess of three years' salary.
(f) As determined by the Secretary General, local professionals may become participants in the OAS Retirement and Pension Fund, or the Provident Fund, and the health insurance plans as a substitute for the retirement, health, and social security system provided under the laws of the duty station.
(g) The Secretary General shall further specify the rights and obligations of local professional staff members by way of Executive Order.
Rule 104.19 Temporary Support Personnel
Appointments of individuals as Temporary Support Personnel ("TSP") shall be governed by the following provisions:
(a) TSPs are not funded by Regular Fund resources; however, under exceptional circumstances as determined by the Secretary General, they may be funded under a specific temporary project supported in part by the Regular Fund. The General Secretariat shall include in the amount budgeted for each TSP the necessary reserves for all benefits required under the local laws of the duty station, including, but not limited to, termination benefits, accumulated vacation, and termination notice.
(b) Periods of employment under a TSP shall not be counted for determining eligibility for career service nor for any other purpose.
(c) TSPs shall not be participants in the OAS Retirement and Pension Fund; however, they shall participate in the social security system provided under the laws of the duty station. In the event such participation is unfeasible, TSPs shall be provided a monthly lump sum payment equal to the value of the required contributions to the national social security system, or, alternatively,
and as determined by the Secretary General, TSPs shall participate in the Provident Plan or other retirement-savings plans established by the General Secretariat for temporary employees and in insurance programs provided by the General Secretariat for temporary employees.(d) Salaries for TSPs shall be established in accordance with market conditions at a level no lower than the amount paid for work of a similar nature under the corresponding national legislation of the duty station, and no greater than the salaries paid by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for work of a similar nature.
(e) The following Articles of the General Standards shall not apply to TSPs, unless otherwise stated in their individual employment contracts: Article 18 (Career Service); Article 35 (Classification of Posts); Article 37 (Salaries); Article 40 (Medical Examination); Article 41 (Selection to Fill Vacant Posts); Article 43 (Probationary Period); Article 45 (Vacations); Article 46 (Leave); Article 47 (Social Security); Article 48 (Travel, Installation, and Repatriation expenses); Article 54, last paragraph (Separation from Service Notice), and Article 57 (Separation Indemnity).
(f) Unless otherwise provided by Executive Order or the express terms of the Contract Document under which a TSP is contracted, the Staff Rules shall not apply to TSPs.
