Delegates Concerned over Disparities in Staff Benefits as Budget Committee Examines Labour Contracts, Health Insurance Plans
The United Nations must uphold the very international labour practices it supported by ensuring that those working within the system were fairly treated and compensated during and after their service, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) heard today during its consideration of a range of human resources issues.
From non-staff personnel to retirees, those working for the United Nations should enjoy fair benefits and wages, the Committee heard as a number of department heads introduced related reports.
Delegations also raised concerns, with the representative from Thailand, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, calling for a more transparent recruitment process and effective workforce planning. Also needed was increased Secretariat staff representation from developing countries, particularly women and at senior levels.
The representative from the United States said it was critical for the United Nations to establish comprehensive workforce and succession planning to fulfil such objectives as gender diversity. The speaker from the Republic of Korea said human resources management reform would allow the Organization to better respond to the international community’s many pressing needs.
A dual workforce, however, had been created with regard to non-staff personnel, said Achamkulangare Gopinathan, Inspector/Chairman of the Joint Inspection Unit — the external oversight body tasked with conducting evaluations, inspections and investigations of the Organization. Given that 45 per cent of the Organization’s workers were employed under non-staff contracts, some enjoyed entitlements while others had limited benefits. While hiring non-staff personnel may on the surface be more cost-effective, no analytical data were available on long-term savings, he said.
To address that issue and the potential legal challenges stemming from the inappropriate use of non-staff personnel, he said, individual organizations should prepare plans to end that practice and clear guidelines should be established. “The inspectors wish to remind United Nations system organizations that they should not assume that the need for practical solutions overrides their respective obligations to put into practice the values that the United Nations system organizations defend, represent and embody,” he said. “They should also not deviate substantially from what good labour practices require.”
Kenneth Herman, Senior Adviser on Information Management Policy Coordination of the Secretariat of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, introduced the Secretary-General’s note on the topic, which said some of the Unit’s recommendations presented challenges.
Examining reform suggestions, Ian Richards, Vice-President of the Staff-Management Committee, expressed concern at the proposal to extend the time limit from one to two years for temporary appointments. Rather, he supported recognizing equal pay for equal work, and providing temporary staff comparable leave and benefits to their colleagues.
Turning to after-service health insurance liabilities, Pedro Guazo, Director of the Accounts Division in the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, introduced the Secretary-General’s related report, which gave an update on the health insurance coverage of United Nations staff. At an annual average per-person cost of $1,824, health insurance represented 1.7 per cent of the total resources the United Nations received in assessed and voluntary contributions, with 6 per cent going for administrative costs. To improve its management system-wide, the Working Group had come up with eight recommendations, including securing access for retirees to the national health insurance schemes of their countries of residence, he said, noting that the recommendations did not represent a specific funding plan for the Secretariat.
Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced that body’s related report (document A/70/7/Add.42), which stated that the pay-as-you-go approach, as supported by the General Assembly, was viable and it should be continued.
Representing tens of thousands of United Nations retirees, Linda Saputelli, President of the Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants, said health insurance ranked second behind pension on the list of the Federation’s priority concerns. The absence of a common methodology for valuing health insurance liabilities, a top concern, could be addressed by proposals for harmonization. Organizations still on the pay-as-you-go approach should move to a pay-as-you-accrue basis, which was fully consistent with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards. She also backed the recommendation to explore the use of external asset managers to invest health insurance balances. “Well-managed investment arrangements should ultimately result in lower insurance premiums for retirees and organizations,” she said.
Sharing a similar view, the representative of Thailand, speaking on behalf of the Group 77, said he attached great importance to staff welfare with regard to end-of-service liabilities, including after-service health insurance as many could not benefit from national social security schemes of Member States owing to their service with United Nations. Given the significance and complexity of the issue, a holistic, system-wide approach for a long-term solution was needed, he said.
Also introducing reports on related human resources management issues were Mr. Ruiz Massieu, who addressed mobility, secondment and Secretariat composition, and Elia Yi Armstrong, Director of the Ethics Office, who discussed its activities from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2015.
The Fifth Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 March, to discuss accountability.
2016-2017 Budget: Managing After-Service Health Insurance Liabilities
PEDRO GUAZO, Director of the Accounts Division in the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on managing after-service health insurance liabilities, contained in document A/70/590. Providing an update on the health insurance coverage of United Nations staff, he said 23 plans covering 401,166 active and retired staff had cost $731.7 million, with an annual average per-person cost of $1,824. The cost represented 1.7 per cent of the total resources the United Nations received in assessed and voluntary contributions, with 6 per cent going for administrative costs. To improve the management of health insurance system-wide, the Working Group had proposed eight recommendations, including securing access for retirees to the national health insurance schemes of their countries of residence, he said, noting that the recommendations did not represent a specific funding plan for the United Nations Secretariat.
CARLOS RUIZ MASSIEU, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced that body’s related report (document A/70/7/Add.42), saying it recommended that the General Assembly endorse recommendations calling for a collective approach to dealing with third-party administrators and health-care providers so as to optimize pricing and network access. Notwithstanding existing barriers such as the diversity of health insurance plans across the United Nations system, the Advisory Committee believed that opportunities did exist for consolidation to save costs. He said that implementing the recommendation encouraging United Nations system organizations to incorporate the requirement that participants enrol in national health insurance plans in addition to their United Nations plans could achieve cost savings. However, more information would be needed for the Advisory Committee to take a position, he cautioned, adding that it was unable to do so on the recommendation advising against the broadening of the Pension Fund’s role to include the administration of after-service health insurance. With regard to funding after-service health insurance liabilities, ACABQ observed that the pay-as-you-go approach, as supported by the General Assembly, was viable, and as such, recommended the continuation of that approach.
LINDA SAPUTELLI, President of the Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants, noted that her organization represented tens of thousands of United Nations common system retirees and acted on behalf of 58 groups. “Health insurance is of critical importance to retirees, second only to pensions,” she said. “Access is of crucial importance for expatriate staff.” The costs of such after-service health insurance were shared between the former employer and the retiree, she said, reiterating that significant acquired rights existed with regard to the obligation of organizations to provide after-service health insurance to former staff. Addressing a number of proposals, she expressed support recommendations on negotiations with third-party administration, she saying that any cost-containment measures should not be at the expense of the quality of health care offered. Exploring the future use of national health insurance schemes should include a case-by-case evaluation to ensure quality care, she said.
Turning to the proposed broadening of the Pension Fund’s role, she said no benefit would result, but best practices could be shared in that regard. Sharing concerns, she said the absence of a common methodology for valuing health insurance liabilities could be addressed by proposals for harmonization. The Federation also believed that organizations still on the pay-as-you-go approach should move to a pay-as-you-accrue basis, which was fully consistent with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards. In addition, she expressed support for the recommendation to explore the use of external asset managers to invest health insurance balances. “Well-managed investment arrangements should ultimately result in lower insurance premiums for retirees and organizations,” she said.
DHISADEE CHAMLONGGRASDR (Thailand), speaking on behalf of the “Group 77” developing countries and China, said he attached great importance to staff welfare with regard to end-of-service liabilities, including after-service health insurance because many could not benefit from the national social security schemes of Member States owing to their service with the United Nations. Given the significant complexity of the issue, a holistic, system-wide approach was needed in seeking a long-term solution.
Aggregate after-service health insurance liability had grown to $16.1 billion in 2014 from $12.1 billion in 2012, he said, noting that growth in such liability valuations over the past three years was attributed to the fall of some two percentage points in the discount rates used in the valuations. In that regard, the Group of 77 supported standardizing general valuation methodology. Regarding the diversity of plans across the system, he said there were opportunities to consolidate them from a cost-saving perspective. Taking note of other key elements, including investing reserves and broadening the Pension Fund’s role, he said the Group of 77 was interested in learning more during informal consultations.
Human Resources Management
CAROLE WAMUYU WAINAINA, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, introduced several reports of the Secretary-General, turning first to the annual report on composition of the Secretariat (document A/70/605). She said it had found a less than 1 per cent decrease of 345 Secretariat staff between 2014 and 2015, from 41,426 to 41,081 respectively. That reflected the decrease in staff of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) (579 staff) and 29 other entities (1,656 staff), and an increase for 46 entities (1,890 staff).
The percentage of staff holding a permanent or continuing appointment had increased from 16 per cent in 2011 to 23 per cent in 2015, she said. That of staff on fixed-term appointments had fallen by a corresponding percentage, from 79 per cent in 2011 to 71 per cent in 2015, trends that reflected the one-time conversion to permanent appointment and the first continuing appointment exercise. Over the last five years, the ratio of female staff to total staff had increased from 33 per cent to 34.4 per cent, while the average age of staff had increased from 42.3 to 44.2. She requested that the General Assembly approve a change in the reporting period, from 1 January to 31 December, with a cut-off date of 15 March, which would allow sufficient time for additional data analysis.
Concerning amendments to Staff Regulations and Rules (document A/70/135), she said the Secretary-General had proposed amendments to three rules, and the revision of appendix D of the Staff Rules governing compensation in the event of death, injury or illness attributable to performance of official United Nations duties. Slight amendments were proposed to rule 4.15, on the Senior Review Group and central review bodies. Rule 5.3 (d), on special leave for pension purposes, was being amended following the introduction of an early retirement age of 58 for staff joining the Joint Staff Pension Fund on or after 1 January 2014.
She said that the second annual report on mobility (document A/70/254) noted that “managed mobility” was just one element of the new staffing system being introduced across the Secretariat. The report outlined progress towards implementation of the new staff selection and managed mobility system, as at July 2015, and included data on staff mobility trends, costs and external recruitment. It also contained a request that the Assembly approve a reduction, from 60 to 30 days, in the advertising time for vacancies posted as part of the new semi-annual staffing exercises.
On the status of the new system, she said: the legislative framework had taken effect on 1 January; the political, peace and humanitarian job network (POLNET) had been the first to transition into the system; and the network staffing team for POLNET had been established, with the staffing process now up and running. Preparations were under way for the first vacancy exercise for POLNET, due to launch on 4 April. She said she would present the outcomes of the first semi-annual staffing exercise, with the subsequent report on mobility, at her next appearance before the Committee.
Taking up the report on seconded active-duty military and police personnel (document A/70/229), she said it was a response to resolution 68/252, by which the General Assembly had extended for three years the exceptional measure authorized in resolution 67/287. The Secretariat had received “limited” responses to its repeated requests that States provide information on potential conflicts between national legislation and the United Nations Staff Regulations and Rules, she said, adding that, under the exceptional measure approved by the Assembly, those officers continued to receive remuneration from their Governments. The report also described the exceptional measure’s application in two cases in which national legislation prohibited seconded active-duty officers from receiving remuneration from the United Nations.
Finally, she said the twelfth annual report on practice of the Secretary-General in disciplinary matters and possible criminal behaviour (document A/70/253) covered the period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015. Its first part contained an overview of the legislative framework governing the investigative and disciplinary processes, while the second part provided summaries of individual cases in which the Secretary-General imposed one or more disciplinary measures. The third part provided statistics on the numbers and types of cases received by the Office of Human Resources Management, she said.
ELIA YI ARMSTRONG, Director of the Ethics Office, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on its activities from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2015 (document A/70/307). Its achievements included responses to 980 requests for services, of which 533 were confidential ethics advice requests; managing the Financial Disclosure Programme, requiring review of 5,043 confidential disclosure statements; facilitating the Secretariat’s second Leadership Dialogue on “Treating Each Other with Respect and Tolerance”; and conducting 15 preliminary reviews relating to the protection-against-retaliation policy, as well as providing advice on related requests.
Noting efforts by the Ethics Office to promote an ethical “tone at the top” through induction briefings for senior officials, she said it also played a key role in administering the annual Financial Disclosure Programme, which aimed to enhance public trust and had achieved 100 per cent compliance for the 2014 cycle. The Office saw a correlation between its outreach and increased staff use of the confidential advisory services, she said. Working with the Department of Management, the Office of Legal Affairs and the Office of Internal Oversight Services, it had drafted a revised protection-against-retaliation policy proposal, which sought to refocus on the reporting of misconduct harmful to United Nations operations, governance and interests, while also providing for the prevention of retaliation.
Mr. RUIZ MASSIEU introduced the ACABQ’s related reports on human resources management.
Introducing the first report, titled human resources management, (document A/70/718), he noted the Secretary-General’s proposal to delete provisions in Staff Rule 4.15 on the Senior Review Group and central review bodies and said ACABQ was not fully convinced of the need to remove the provision related to term limits for central review body members from the Staff Rules. It recommended that the Secretary-General provide justification to the Assembly on that matter. It welcomed the new provision proposed under Staff Rule 9.9 (b), which ensured that accrued annual leave would not be paid to staff members dismissed for sexual exploitation and abuse, and encouraged the Secretary-General to include in the next report a proposal to broaden its scope to cover other types of serious misconduct.
On the Secretary-General’s practice in disciplinary matters, the Advisory Committee regretted that the revised administrative instruction on investigations and the disciplinary process, under preparation for several years, had not been issued and expected it would be promulgated without further delay. ACABQ trusted that the Secretary-General would encourage senior officials who had not publicly disclosed a summary of their assets to do so in future cycles.
He then introduced the Advisory Committee’s report on mobility (document A/67/765), which recommended approval of the proposal to reduce from 60 to 30 days the advertising time for posts that were part of the semi-annual staffing exercises under the mobility and career development framework. A comparative baseline against which future mobility trends could be measured should be determined for the Assembly’s consideration no later than the main part of its seventy-first session. Further, the Secretary-General should provide more data on staff in hardship duty stations and lessons learned from the first managed mobility exercise.
The Advisory Committee’s report on secondment (document A/67/728) recommended approval of the requested actions, as well as the request to intensify the Secretary-General’s engagement with States to identify solutions for addressing conflicts between national legislation and United Nations Staff Regulations and Rules.
In its report on Secretariat composition (document A/67/764), the Advisory Committee did not object to the proposed change in the reporting cycle to the calendar year. Yet, the Assembly should request the Secretary-General to explain the reasons behind trends concerning the impact of recent human resource reforms. He had already expressed concern at the upward shift in the grade structure in the Secretariat, and did not believe that increased demands should necessarily translate into such a trend. The Assembly should ask the Secretary-General to explain his practice and policy on senior appointments and guidelines for appointments on $1-per-year contracts should be issued without further delay. ACABQ also expected that a “fully developed” strategy for a robust workforce planning system would be included in the next overview report.
ACHAMKULANGARE GOPINATHAN, Inspector/Chairman of the Joint Inspection Unit, introduced the body’s report on the use of non-staff personnel and related contractual modalities in the United Nations system organizations (document A/67/685). Providing an overview, he said 45 per cent of the Organization’s total workforce was working under non-staff contracts, with many working for extended periods under a de facto employment relationship. Non-staff contracts cost less than their staff counterparts, indirectly encouraging their widespread use, creating a dual workforce within the same organization — with one accompanied by entitlements and another with little or limited benefits.
“The inspectors wish to remind United Nations system organizations that they should not assume that the need for practical solutions overrides their respective obligations to put into practice the values that the United Nations system organizations defend, represent and embody,” he said. “They should also not deviate substantially from what good labour practices require.”
Without an overarching criteria and framework for use of non-staff personnel, individual organizations had developed a fragmented set of policies and modalities, compounded by a lack of analytical data, including on profiles and the final costs of such a workforce. “As such, there is a lack of effective decision making and monitoring, weak internal controls and insufficient support and oversight provided by relevant Headquarters departments/units,” he said, noting that the review had found that organizations faced reputational risks, high turnover, a lack of a stable and motivated personnel, and a potential increase in legal challenges owing to the inappropriate use of non-staff personnel.
To address those concerns, the Unit had recommended that a working group under the High-Level Committee on Management should consider a system-wide harmonization of non-staff policies and practices. It also advised each organization to carry out an analysis of their respective situations and prepare a plan to terminate the practice of long-term use of non-staff personnel. Further, updated and consolidated practical guidelines should be established to guide managers, and following the International Labour Organization (ILO) example, only one type of non-staff contract should be used. Organizations should also ensure those working under third-party contracts had decent working conditions.
KENNETH HERMAN, Senior Adviser on Information Management Policy Coordination, Secretariat of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, introduced the Secretary-General’s note on the use of non-staff personnel and related contractual modalities in the United Nations system organizations” (document A/70/685/Add.1), which he described as “informative and thorough”. The term “non-staff” described an extremely diverse body within the workforce, beyond the use of consultants and contractors to include United Nations volunteers, Government-provided personnel, and in some cases, meeting participants, which complicated any analysis of the use of those arrangements.
For some organizations, he said, using the personnel categories described in the report had been useful, in that they had allowed for agility and flexibility in staffing that would otherwise not be possible. Organizations had noted the benefit of providing non-staff contract holders with the appropriate conditions of service. Those with voluntary funding models found that the unpredictability of funding had driven their need for such arrangements.
More broadly, he said organizations had “generally accepted” the recommendations presented in the report, notably recommendations 4 and 8, on strengthening internal monitoring and oversight through enhanced information systems, and on promoting a gender-balance policy. Some recommendations, however, presented challenges, notably recommendation 3, which called on organizations to develop plans for addressing long-term non-staff personnel, and recommendation 7, which addressed working conditions of third-party contractors, which could limit organizations’ ability to influence salaries, benefits and entitlements to those parties. The overall consensus was that many recommendations offered a constructive approach to addressing challenges in the use of the types of contractual workforce arrangements described in the report.
IAN RICHARDS, Vice-President of the Staff-Management Committee, turning first to the Secretary-General’s August 2014 overview report on human resources management reform, document A/69/190, expressed concern at the proposal to extend the time limit from one to two years for temporary appointments. Rather, he supported recognizing equal pay for equal work, and providing temporary staff comparable leave and benefits to their colleagues. He supported the proposal that performance management reports for periods of less than a year be allowed to count towards qualifying for a continuing appointment. On staff selection, he regretted continued delays in filling vacancies, reported at 213 days, and urged a review.
On performance management, he requested support for joint proposals to include greater flexibility in the composition of rebuttal panels and more clarity on applying performance improvement plans. The Staff-Management Committee was working on new proposals to recognize that strong performance required ongoing feedback from supervisor to staff member. It was unacceptable that newly retiring staff must wait six months before receiving their first pension payment, a problem that persisted alongside repeated attempts by the pension fund’s Chief Executive Officer to disassociate the fund from the United Nations, low staff morale and retaliation against whistle-blowers. A new Chief Executive Officer was sorely needed.
On human resources management reform and staff well-being, he noted that the 40 er cent of disability pensions awarded by the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund had been based on mental health diagnoses, while the global average was 25 per cent. He regretted the removal of accelerated home leave in C duty stations, urging that it be restored. More broadly, he requested support for a joint proposal that staff need not rescind permanent resident status in a country other than their nationality on joining the Organization. Management’s refusal to allow judicial review for whistle-blowers who were denied protection from retaliation contradicted the recommendation by Judge Otis of Canada, who authored a report on the subject, and ignored a United Nations Dispute Tribunal judgement in Postica versus the Secretary-General.
He said he was mystified that the Secretary-General was rushing to propose amendments to the Staff Rules whereby accrued annual leave would not be paid to sexual offenders who had been separated from the Organization, as colleagues in United Nations organizations active on that issue said the proposal had not been researched and might be ineffective. “Being caught is a greater deterrent than losing leave,” he said, requesting that the proposal be declined in favour of an effective package. He also proposed the Secretary-General prepare a report on how interns could be given stipends, taking into account practices of specialized agencies.
SIRITHON WAIRATPANIJ (Thailand), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, expressed concern over the delay in issuing documentation, particularly regarding amendments to Staff Regulations and Rules. There needed to be more representation of developing countries in Secretariat staff, including more women from such countries, in particular at senior levels. A more transparent recruitment process and effective workforce planning were required, as well. With regard to the managed mobility framework, the Group would seek further information at a later stage while paying close attention to the costs incurred. The Group would consider the Secretary-General’s proposal to revise the performance management system, and the proliferation of high-level positions in the Secretariat should be addressed with a view to avoiding duplication and overlapping responsibilities.
BRIAN CONROY (United States) said the United Nations must have the right people in the right places at the right time in order to achieve its objectives. Early efforts regarding staff mobility were encouraging and his country looked forward to learning more about the impact of that policy. It was critical for the United Nations to establish a robust performance management framework. The Organization also needed to put into place comprehensive workforce and succession planning if it was to fulfil such objectives as gender diversity. Regarding the Ethics Office, he looked forward to finalization of an updated policy on protecting whistle-blowers against retaliation. Such a policy was critical to strengthening the ethical culture of the Organization.
CHUNG BYUNG-HA (Republic of Korea) said human resources management reform was critical in order for the Organization to better respond to the many pressing needs of the international community. Expressing strong support for managed mobility, he voiced appreciation for the way the Secretariat had implemented that policy in a timely manner, as agreed two years ago. Strategic deployment of staff was a key enabler, and successful implementation of managed mobility was thus at the heart of such efforts. The main part of the Committee’s seventy-first session would be devoted to human resources management, with a number of updated reports to be put before it. In that regard, his delegation would take a pragmatic approach and engage constructively in informal consultations.