Compendium Page 1 SECTION 7.20 CLASSIFICATION OF DUTY STATIONS ACCORDING TO CONDITIONS OF LIFE AND WORK 1979 9th session (February/March): ICSC declared its concern that the conditions of service offered by the common system should be such as to secure and retain for the organizations staff of the highest calibre for duty not only in the headquarters and other large established offices but also in the multitude of small duty stations scattered through more than 140 countries, some in capital cities but many in remote locations where development assistance projects were situated. ICSC recognized that the circumstances and the needs of staff members serving in such places were in many respects different from those of their colleagues in HQ duty stations; and it had been particularly conscious that they tended to have fewer opportunities for making their problems known and expressing their views and consequently often felt forgotten and neglected. To overcome the negative effects of this state of affairs and enhance the effectiveness of the organizations in providing the expert assistance expected of them by the developing countries, ICSC had sought various approaches to the problem of identifying needs and applying specific remedies to them. One of the main difficulties had been that of distinguishing the countries (or particular duty stations within countries) where the conditions of life and work may have an adverse effect on the availability of candidates for appointment to posts in such "difficult" duty stations, the readiness of staff to be assigned to them and the practical effectiveness of staff serving there. ICSC therefore approved a plan for the making of a study of the possibility of establishing criteria by which duty stations could be classified in terms of the conditions of life and work which prevailed in them [A/34/30, paras. 169 and 170]. The following plan of work was agreed upon: (a) the identification of possible criteria, for discussion by ICSC at its 10th session in the light of comments to be made by the representatives of the organizations and of the staff; (b) the testing of the criteria tentatively approved by ICSC, by means of a questionnaire incorporating them which would be sent to field duty stations: (c) analysis of the replies received from the field duty stations, by a task force composed of representatives of the organizations and of the staff, together with ICSC's secretariat, with a view to recommending to ICSC any changes in the criteria or in the questionnaire, together with proposals for the way in which the information to be obtained on conditions at each duty station should be graded and translated into a classification; (d) after approval by ICSC, the institution of a procedure for the ongoing classification of all field duty stations; (e) lastly, consideration by ICSC of possible measures to counteract or compensate for the effect of adverse conditions [A/34/30, para. 172].
Compendium Page 2 1979 On the basis on information of Member States which had systematic procedures for classifying duty stations, i.e., Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the US as well as earlier studies carried within the UN system, six major factors were identified for use in classifying conditions of life and work in field duty stations: (a) Health; (b) Climate; (c) Education; (d) Housing; (e) Isolation; (f) Local conditions [A/34/30, para. 177]. 1980 12th session (July/August): ICSC agreed to proceed with the classification of field duty stations on the basis of the replies to the questionnaire that had been distributed [A/35/30, para. 222]. ICSC considered that for those duty stations where unfavourable conditions tended to be grouped as regards health, climate, isolation and other local conditions, it was not possible to take specific action which would change the conditions in question. Therefore, the most effective remedy, where these conditions were highly adverse, was to provide the staff member and his family an opportunity to leave the duty station more often. The "rest and recuperation leave" arrangements had been introduced with this object in view but their value was limited by several factors, in particular, the fact that the cost of staying in many of the designated "rest and recuperation" centres was too high for the average staff member to be able to spend a holiday there with his family; and that in many cases the climatic and cultural environmental was not sufficiently different from that of the duty station. ICSC considered that the staff member and his or her family would derive much more benefit from a visit to their home country, not only because they often have the possibility of staying there much less expensively, in their own home or with relatives, but they could take advantage of their stay to have a medical check-up, dental treatment and other similar "personal maintenance care" which was not always available in the duty station and which was not so conveniently available at an unfamiliar "rest and recuperation" centre. The incidence of sick leave and medical evacuations was likely to be significantly reduced by more frequent home visits. Such practice had long been recognized by those Member States which have large expatriate diplomatic or aid services, many of which grant home leave every year or even more frequently to their staff in "difficult" duty stations. ICSC therefore considered that for staff in those duty stations found to have the least satisfactory conditions of health, climate, isolation and other local conditions, the frequency of home leave should be increased to once every 12 months. For an intermediate category of duty stations at which conditions were found to be difficult but not among the least satisfactory, the frequency should be increased to 18 months. For all other duty stations (the vast majority), the present 24-month frequency should be maintained. Furthermore, the present "rest and recuperation" leave entitlement would be abolished but the additional travel entitlement (unlike the regular home leave entitlement) would be available, at the staff member's request and provided the cost was not greater, for travel to the headquarters country of the organization or another place which the staff member preferred and where the leave would serve the same purposes as in his home country, for example, the home country of the spouse. 1980 ICSC noted that such travel should be subject to the exigencies of the service and that in
Compendium Page 3 some cases (such as in educational, agricultural and training projects) the leave could not be taken because of the difficulty of reconciling it with the annual work cycle [A/35/30, para. 223]. ICSC recommended that, with effect from 1 January 1981, the periodicity of home leave be increased to 12 and 18 months as explained above for staff members serving in very difficult and difficult field duty stations respectively. The designation of field duty stations qualifying for the 12 and 18 month periodicity of home leave would be determined on the basis of a formula which included a predetermined mix of adverse conditions as regards the six factors of conditions of life and work and which would be applied and maintained solely by ICSC [A/35/30, para. 224]. ICSC considered that where schools providing schooling in the language or in the cultural tradition desired by staff members for their children did not exist at the duty station the situation was again one in which nothing could be done to provide the conditions lacking. The only option available to staff members in such circumstances was to send their children away to boarding school, elsewhere in the duty station country, in the home country, or in a third country. ICSC considered that where the educational facilities were such that international staff had no option but to send their children outside the duty station country for schooling, then special treatment was justified by providing for travel of the child between the duty station and the place of schooling twice (instead of once) in the year in which the parent was not entitled to home leave, thus bringing the total of family reunions permitted at the organization's expense to four in a two-year period instead of three. ICSC noted that such special treatment should be provided only for eligible staff members serving in field duty stations [A/35/30, para. 225]. ICSC recommended that, with effect from 1 January 1981, provision be made for travel of the child between the duty station and the place of schooling twice (instead of once) in the year in which the parent was not entitled to home leave in those field duty stations where schools did not exist which provide schooling in the language or in the cultural tradition desired by the staff members for their children. The overall number of family reunions permitted at the organization's expense would thus be raised to four in a two-year period instead of three. ICSC would determine which duty stations were eligible for such provision on the basis of an analysis of the replies to questionnaires relating to educational facilities [A/35/30, para. 226]. ICSC also considered the introduction of a financial incentive in the form of an increase in assignment allowance at half the highest existing rate, i.e., $1,200 a year which would be allocated to staff members working in the most difficult conditions for which no other remedy could be found, whether or not removal costs had been paid. It postponed its 1980 decision on the question to the next session. ICSC decided, however, that any incentives it might approve would have retroactive effect from 1 January 1981 [A/35/30, para. 227].
Compendium Page 4 ICSC decided to establish a working party composed of one member designated by CCAQ, one by FICSA and one or more members of ICSC's secretariat which would analyse the replies to each of the questionnaires, verify the consistency of the replies of individual questionnaires as well as that of the replies from neighbouring duty stations, and make proposals to ICSC on the classification of each duty station on the basis of instructions laid down by ICSC. The formulae to be applied in determining the overall classification of duty stations and the manner of qualifying for specific remedial measures would be maintained by ICSC and not published, although the specific remedial measures for which a given duty station would qualify would be made known. ICSC would determine at its next session which duty stations would be eligible for which remedial measures. Once the initial classification was established, ICSC would carry out a review once each year to ensure that conditions had not changed. All reclassifications of duty stations which would be warranted by virtue of changes in conditions of life and work would become effective once each calendar year [A/35/30, para. 228]. In resolution 35/214, the GA: (a) approved the classification by ICSC of duty stations according to conditions of life and work and the increase in the periodicity of home leave and of travel entitlements under the education grant, pending the determination of eligible duty stations; (b) noted ICSC's intention to study further financial incentives for staff members serving in the most difficult duty stations. 1981 13th session (February/March): ICSC reviewed the list of duty stations that would qualify for the new entitlements on the basis of the criteria proposed by a working group it had established. It approved the criteria and system of marking recommended by the Working Group to be used in determining duty stations eligible for the new entitlements of accelerated home leave travel on cycles of 12 and 18 months, additional education grant travel and financial incentives. Concerning the financial incentive, ICSC noted that the provision was reserved for a very small proportion of staff and that the cost to be incurred by the common system was indeed minimal. It therefore decided to establish the amount at the following rates for a staff member in the P or higher categories assigned to a qualifying duty station outside his or her home country: $2,400/year (accompanied by a dependent spouse at the duty station) and $1,200 per year (not accompanied by a dependent spouse at the duty station). The incentive was to be paid in the form of an increased rate of assignment allowance. The amount so added would not be taken into account in the calculation of rental subsidy for those duty stations. With regard to the transitional measures proposed, ICSC decided, consistent with the intentions expressed in its previous annual report that rest and recuperation leave should 1981 be entirely abolished in conjunction with the establishment of the new entitlements and, therefore, that no transitional measures should be implemented. ICSC authorized its Chairman to promulgate the decisions concerning particular duty stations, on the basis of the established classifications, with effect from 1 January 1981. With regard to future classifications, ICSC decided that: (a) organizations should submit completed
Compendium Page 5 questionnaires for newly established duty stations as soon after their establishment as it was possible to judge the existing conditions; (b) Resident Coordinators and other respondents should be informed that they could submit a revised questionnaire in respect of any duty station if they believed that there had been a significant change in the conditions; (c) the questionnaires so received would be examined once a year by the Working Group, which would submit recommendations to the Chairman of ICSC for approval and promulgation, and (d) a complete survey of all field duty stations should be undertaken by the Working Group every three years and the results of those reviews should be reported to the Chairman for approval and promulgation [A/36/30, para. 154]. 14th session (July): ICSC considered a proposal of its secretariat that a review should be made of some of the aspects concerning the procedures for determining eligibility for the higher amount of the financial incentive, for dealing with duty stations in which security conditions deteriorated drastically, and for the examination of new questionnaires which had been received since the 13th session. The secretariat recommended that: (a) eligibility for the financial incentive in the amount of $2,400 per year should be granted to a staff member in the P or higher category assigned to a qualifying duty station outside his or her home country and accompanied by a dependent spouse or dependent child at the duty station; (b) the Chairman should be delegated the authority immediately to designate duty stations, in which the Secretary-General had ordered the evacuation of dependants, as qualifying for home leave travel on a 12-month cycle and to reinstate the original classification for the duty station when the evacuation order was withdrawn; (c) a second meeting of the Working Group should be convened at the 14th session to examine new questionnaires received by 1 July 1981 so that the Chairman might promulgate a supplementary list of duty stations eligible for the new provisions [A/36/30, para. 155]. ICSC decided that: (a) eligibility for the financial incentive in the amount of $2,400 per year should be granted to a staff member in the P or higher category assigned to a qualifying duty station outside his or her home country and accompanied by a dependent spouse or dependent child at the duty station; (b) ICSC should be delegated authority to promulgate classification entitlements for newly-established duty stations. ICSC also noted that: (a) its Chairman would promulgate a list of new duty stations which qualified for various entitlements after the 14th session; (b) further requests for review would be examined by the Working Group during its regular annual review scheduled near the end of 1981; (c) after examining the report of the Working Group, the Chairman would, within the authority delegated to him by ICSC, promulgate any new classifications that were required [A/36/30, paras. 161 and 162]. 1982 15th session (March): ICSC considered developments in the classification of duty stations that had occurred since the 14th session. The document provided further lists of qualifying duty stations which had been promulgated, the estimated costs and further recommendations of the Working Group to review the scheme in the light of the comments of the organizations in respect of the abolition of rest and recuperation leave [A/37/30, para. 223]. ICSC decided that no further review of the scheme was required in light of the
Compendium Page 6 confirmation that all organizations had now abolished the previous rest and recuperation provisions. With regard to the possible manner of designating groups of eligible duty stations, ICSC decided to continue the status quo. ICSC also decided to delegate to its Chairman the power to establish provisionally entitlements of duty stations which had not previously been examined, giving them provisional ratings that would be reviewed in the subsequent annual meeting of the Tripartite Working Group [A/37/30, para. 226]. In resolution 37/126, the GA noted that ICSC had started a comprehensive review of conditions of service in the field. 1983 18th session (July/August): ICSC continued its general review of field-service conditions. It decided, inter alia, to expand the terms of reference of the 1983 Tripartite Working Group (TWG) on the Classification of Duty Stations according to Conditions of Life and Work to include a comprehensive review of duty stations and of the allowances and benefits currently received by staff, based, inter alia, on documentation to be provided by the organizations and FICSA [A/38/30, para. 121(a)]. In resolution 38/232, the GA noted the progress made by ICSC in its review of conditions of service in the field and requested ICSC to keep the GA informed of further developments in its review. 1984 19th session (March): ICSC heard a statement by the Administrator of UNDP and considered a report by the TWG, as well as comments by the ICSC secretariat on the changes proposed by the TWG. ICSC recommended, inter alia, to the organizations that they: (a) establish a mechanism whereby staff members might be advanced the financial incentive, where applicable, for up to one year; (b) exercise flexibility in granting the additional travel entitlement provided that no additional costs were involved; (c) exercise the greatest amount of flexibility possible in the timing of allowing the use of the 18-month home leave provision so as to meet the requirements of the organizations as well as the staff and their families; (d) consider increasing the weight entitlements for shipments for staff in field duty stations with difficult local conditions [A/39/30, paras. 199 and 200]. 1984 ICSC approved: (a) the changes recommended by the TWG in respect of the questionnaire used to obtain information on conditions of life and work at different duty stations; (b) the amendments to the marking scheme and consequent derivation of entitlements [A/39/30, para. 201]. ICSC also decided: (a) to establish two levels of financial incentive, in accordance with the authority given to it in article 11 (b) of its statute at the following rates:
Compendium Page 7 Without dependants (United States dollars) With dependants (United States dollars) Level I 1,800/yr 3,600/yr Level II 2,400/yr 4,800/yr (b) that the new rates for level I would take effect from 1 July 1984 and those for level II from 1 January 1985; (c) to review the levels of the financial incentives every three years [A/39/30, para. 202]. 1986 24th session (July): Proposals were presented by FICSA and CCISUA concerning the system of classifying field duty stations according to conditions of life and work. ICSC requested the TWG to review the proposals and to make recommendations thereon at the 25th session [ICSC/24/R.22, para. 81]. 1987 25th session (March): ICSC reviewed the recommendations of the TWG and decided: (a) to establish the following new financial incentive levels (equivalent to two months' net salary at the P-4, step VI level, at the base in New York) with effect from 1 July 1987: Without dependants With dependants Financial incentive Level I Financial incentive Level II $2,700/yr $3,600/yr $5,400/yr $7,200/yr
Compendium Page 8 1987 (b) to review the levels of the financial incentives whenever there was a change in net salary at the base in New York; (c) to retain the current restrictions on additional education grant entitlements; (d) to retain the existing requirement that duty stations receiving entitlements would be reviewed every three years, or sooner if so decided by the ICSC secretariat or requested by staff at the duty station; (e) to approve the changes recommended by the TWG in respect of the questionnaire; (f) to approve the three proposed revisions to the thresholds for determining entitlements, with estimated financial implications of $27,000 a year for the common system; (g) to approve the TWG recommendation to provide accelerated home leave entitlements for staff experiencing temporary housing shortages on the understanding that the entitlement would be limited strictly to those staff members unable to find permanent housing and that there would be strict monitoring and certification of such cases by the UN Resident Coordinator; (h) to review the system indicated in (g) above in two years' time on the basis of experience [A/42/30, para. 219]. 26th session (July): In the context of a review of the levels of the education grant and following a proposal from CCAQ, ICSC recommended to the GA that the existing education grant provisions for staff serving at locations where educational facilities were not available or were deemed to be inadequate should be modified as from the school year in progress on 1 January 1988 to enable them to claim reimbursement of 100 per cent of boarding costs up to $1,500 per year as an amount additional to the maximum grant of $4,500 [A/42/30, para. 153]. By resolution 42/221, the GA approved the above recommendation and requested ICSC to report to the Assembly annually, starting in 1988, on the number of such cases in the common system and on the related costs. The GA also requested ICSC to indicate in its next report the type of guidelines used for assessing the adequacy of educational facilities at field duty stations for the application of the above measure. 1988 28th session (July): ICSC considered a report of the TWG, which included proposals on: (a) the scoring scheme for the review of entitlements at field duty stations; (b) the reimbursement of medical examinations for family members; and (c) guidelines, as requested in GA resolution 42/221, for assessing the adequacy of educational facilities at field duty stations in application of the improved provisions for the reimbursement of boarding costs for staff members at locations where educational facilities were not available or were deemed inadequate. ICSC decided to approve the proposed revisions to the scoring scheme [A/43/30, paras. 84-85]. 1988 ICSC took note of the information provided on the guidelines that were being used by the organizations for determining entitlements to the additional reimbursement of boarding costs which were the same as those used to determine the additional education grant travel entitlement. Additional boarding costs were reimbursed when: (a) no educational facilities
Compendium Page 9 were available at the duty station; (b) educational facilities were available only up to a certain level (at duty stations - typically smaller ones - where only in certain subjects; education at the post-secondary level was typically not available at small field duty stations); (c) the language of instruction was inappropriate (education was not available in an official language of the UN and/or the language of the majority of international staff at the duty station); (d) places were not available (at duty stations where educational facilities with the required characteristics were available, but where there were long waiting lists, or enrolment was restricted to a particular nationality). ICSC decided to report these guidelines to the GA. It concurred with the working group that the guidelines could continue to be applied to determine which duty stations would be eligible for the additional reimbursement of boarding costs. ICSC requested the organizations to provide information on the number of cases and related costs for the entitlement to the additional reimbursement of boarding costs by 31 October 1988 in order to allow this information to be submitted to the GA at its 43rd session [A/43/30, paras. 87-88]. With regard to the reimbursement of medical examinations, ICSC decided that: (a) the maximum amount of reimbursement for eligible dependants would be set at 75 per cent of that for staff members and procedures for future adjustments would therefore follow those for the adjustment of the basic amount for staff members; (b) with effect from 1 September 1988, this amount would be payable for each eligible dependant, once within a two-year period or on the occasion of reassignment to a designated duty station, whichever came sooner [A/43/30, para. 86]. 1989 29th session (March): ICSC reviewed a report by the TWG on its annual meeting in 1988 which contained the results of a survey of actual utilization of hardship entitlements and associated costs under the hardship duty station scheme. Since the scheme had been introduced in 1981 the annual cost had grown to over $10 million per year. The Chairman felt that the authority delegated to him was a discretionary one which did not mean that every recommendation of the TWG should automatically be approved. He had approved the recommendations of the TWG for all but 4 duty stations, partly because of his different evaluation of qualifying criteria and partly because of cost considerations. He wished to discuss with ICSC the overall issue of the operation of the hardship scheme, particularly in view of the concern expressed by CCAQ about the 4 hardship entitlements recommended by the TWG that had not been approved [ICSC/29/R.11, paras. 95-96 and 98]. 1989 ICSC decided to: (a) take note of the operation of the hardship duty station scheme and its overall costs submitted by CCAQ; (b) reaffirm the role of its Chairman in ensuring that the criteria for establishing the entitlements were met and applied consistently; (c) request the TWG to provide, when submitting its recommendations to the ICSC Chairman, a list of duty stations examined, together with its recommendations for new and revised entitlements, accompanied by the reasons therefor and the projected costs, with a breakdown by regular and extrabudgetary sources of funds; (d) request its Chairman to
Compendium Page 10 provide a full report to ICSC on his consideration of the recommendations from the TWG including those which were not approved and the reasons therefor; (e) request the organizations to provide a comprehensive report every three years on the operation of the hardship duty station scheme including duty stations involved and estimates of the total costs incurred so as to enable ICSC to submit a report thereon to the GA; (f) request the Chairman of the TWG to continue consultations with the ICSC Chairman with a view to resolving outstanding issues emanating from the previous report(s) of the TWG as soon as possible [ICSC/29/R.11, para. 101]. 30th session (July/August): As part of the package of measures recommended under the comprehensive review of conditions of service of staff in the P and higher categories, ICSC recommended a new mobility and hardship scheme to replace the current scheme of assignment allowance, financial incentives for service and hardship duty stations, installation grant and pre-departure allowance. The main elements of the scheme: the mobility and hardship allowance and the assignment grant are described in sections 3.1.80 and 3.1.90, respectively. For changes in home leave arrangements, see section 4.60. ICSC also recommended that: (a) the existing limits on additional reimbursement of boarding costs should be increased to $3,000 per year; (b) the additional reimbursement should in future be applicable in respect of children at primary and secondary school levels only; (c) the existing provision for additional reimbursement should no longer apply at the post-secondary level [A/44/30, vol II, paras. 305-333]. By resolution 44/198 the GA approved the ICSC recommendations. 1992 36th session (July/August): ICSC recommended to the GA that the amount of additional reimbursement of boarding costs should be maintained at the present level in respect of all currency areas [A/46/30, para. 252 (c)]. 1994 40th session (June/July): ICSC noted that the level of the additional reimbursement of boarding costs over and above the normal maximum grant at designated duty stations would be reviewed in conjunction with the review of the mobility and hardship allowance scheduled for 1996 [A/49/30, para. 270].