THE SECRETARY GENERAL,

    In exercise of the powers conferred on him by Articles 115 and 119 of the Charter of the Organization and Articles 8 and 11 of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat, and

CONSIDERING:

    That the General Assembly, through resolution AG/RES. 598 (XII-O/82), authorized the Permanent Council to amend such provisions of Chapter III of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat as it might deem appropriate, in order to incorporate the principles of the Career Service, subject to approval by the General Assembly at its thirteenth regular session;

    That, taking the provisions of that resolution into account, the Permanent Council, by resolution CP/RES. 388 (544/83), amended Chapter III of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat, on personnel, subject to approval by the General Assembly, and the latter, through resolution 671 (XIII-O/83) ratified the amendments made;

    That, with regard to promotion of personnel, those amendments provided that promotions should be made by competition, with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Selection and Promotion and, therefore, the competence of the Classification Review Board established under Rule 102.4 of the Staff Rules was limited to the classification of posts; and

    That, the Department of Human Resources and the Classification Review Board have for some time been recommending that it would be advisable to eliminate the Classification Review Board since the Department of Human Resources is technically responsible for the classification of positions and would make recommendations to the Secretary General on classification related matters thus replacing the procedure indicated in Chapter II of the Staff Rules,

RESOLVES:

First: Amendment. To amend Chapter II and Rule 103.7 of the Staff Rules, which shall be worded as they appear in the appendix to this Executive Order.

Second: Repeals. This Executive Order repeals any provision, rule, or practice of the General Secretariat contrary to it.

Third: Entry into Force. This Executive Order shall enter into force on the date of its signature.

Joao Clemente Baena Soares
Secretary General

Date: August 25, 1987
Original: English

Attachment

APPENDIX

CHAPTER II

CLASSIFICATION OF POSTS

Rule 102.1 Systems and Standards of Classification of Posts

(a) The system of classification of posts is maintained by the Secretary General in order to ensure the assignment of appropriate grades and titles to all posts in the General Secretariat.

(b) The system of classification of posts is governed by the Classification Standards issued by the Secretary General, which describe, identify, and delineate the criteria used to classify each post in any of the grades to which Rule 102.2(b) refers. These criteria are the nature of the work, the knowledge and skills required, the supervision and guidance exercised, the complexity of the assignment, the contacts and their purpose, the scope and effect of the work, and its physical demands. The Standards may be consulted by any staff member in the Department of Human Resources.

(c) The classification of posts is directed at the posts and not at the persons who hold them. The classification of each post depends on the nature of the duties and responsibilities assigned to it, and is not affected by any of the following factors: physical location, length of service, quality of performance, education or experience of the incumbent, or volume of work.

Rule 102.2 Classified and Unclassified Posts

(a) The posts of Secretary General, Assistant Secretary General, Executive Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries are unclassified posts.

(b) All other posts are classified in 15 grades within two categories, in conformity with the Classification Standards and the pertinent resolutions of the General Assembly.

(c) Professional category posts are those whose functions are of a policy-making nature or of such a technical level or degree of responsibility as to make it necessary to recruit the corresponding personnel on an international basis. The professional category comprises the following seven grades: J to N, P, and Q.

(d) General services category posts are those not included in the previous category. The general services category comprises the eight grades A to H. Insofar as possible, this staff should be recruited locally.

Rule 102.3 Classification Procedure

(a) The Department of Human Resources is responsible for ensuring that the grade of each post is compatible with its duties and level of responsibility, in accordance with the Classification Standards.

(b) Department and Office directors are responsible for ensuring that all staff members assigned to their Departments or Offices receive a description of the posts they occupy. Immediate supervisors are responsible for seeing to it that the descriptions of the posts adequately reflect the duties and responsibilities assigned to the staff members under their supervision.

(c) Except as provided in paragraph (d) below, and subject to the requirements of Rule 103.7, a supervisor may not assign new duties that will alter the time assigned to any activity in the post description by more than approximately 15 percent of the total time of a staff member without first making a new post description, indicating the proposed change and giving a detailed justification to the Department of Human Resources through the pertinent Executive or Assistant Secretary (or through the Secretary General or the Assistant Secretary General in the case of areas under the direct supervision of either of them). Within the following thirty days, the Department of Human Resources shall issue an opinion on the possible consequences of the proposed assignment of duties and the requisites for making the assignment effective.

(d) Assignments of duties either at the same level or at a higher level, for not more than two months, are exempt from the requirement of paragraph (c) but are subject to those of Rules 103.7 and 105.3.

(e) The Department of Human Resources shall review the classification of each vacant post before proceeding to fill it. The classification of posts in each Department or Office of the General Secretariat shall be reviewed periodically by the Department of Human Resources. It may review posts on its own initiative or responding to the incumbent's or supervisor's requests, or may schedule departmental, office-wide, or group reviews either in response to requests from Department or Office heads or as a result of circumstances such as unforeseen changes in the administrative structure or the needs of a Department or Office.

(f) The review of posts shall consist of:

(i) An analysis of the duties, responsibilities, and requirements of each post, described in the appropriate form, approved by the Director of the Department or Office concerned;

(ii) An audit of each post, which insofar as possible will include on-site discussion with the incumbent and with his supervisors and an examination of some work samples, but may be limited to review of the description of the post if no substantial changes in duties have been made since the last review; and

(iii) An evaluation of the post in accordance with the Classification Standards.

(g) The Department of Human Resources shall correct any errors or emissions that the review may reveal in the description of the post and shall certify the classification that corresponds to it in accordance with the Classification Standards. This certification shall be carried out in three stages, first, a review conducted by one of the classification specialists in the Department of Human Resources in accordance with paragraph (f) above; second, a discussion of the findings and the recommendation thereon by the classification specialists of the Department of Human Resources as a committee; and third, a determination by the Director of the Department of Human Resources. The final recommendation shall then be sent to the Secretary General for his decision. A change in classification of a post shall become effective on the date that it is approved by the Secretary General.

(h) The classification of each post in conformity with paragraphs (e), (f) and (g) above, regardless of the level of the post in the budget, shall regulate all actions related to that post, such as:

(i) The possible payment of special duties allowance, in accordance with Rule 103.7;

(ii) The selection and promotion of staff members, dealt with Chapter IV of these Rules;

(iii) Transfers, temporary assignment of duties, and reduction in grade, dealt with in Chapter V; and

(iv) Separation from service and reduction in force, dealt with in Chapter X.

(i) A staff member who belongs to the career service or has been providing services under contract for a continuous period of three years or longer, and whose post has not been reviewed during the preceding twelve months, may request an individual review provided that he presents in writing the changes in the duties and responsibilities of the post that in his opinion may alter its classification. A review granted pursuant to such a request shall be conducted within six months from the date on which the request is received by the Department of Human Resources.

(j) When the periodic reviews to which this Rule refers are made, or in any other circumstance that is considered appropriate, the Department of Human Resources shall conduct manpower utilization studies and make proposals designed to obtain the best possible use of the human resources of the General Secretariat.

(k) Once the Secretary General has approved a classification decision, the Department of Human Resources shall notify the incumbent and the director of the department or office concerned of the decision by sending a corrected and certified copy of the description of the post to them.

Rule 102.4 Appeals

(a) A staff member who is dissatisfied with the classification of his post resulting from a review made in accordance with Rule 102.3 above may be entitled to have his post reviewed again by an external classification specialist chosen from a panel selected with the participation of the Staff Committee, if he and the Secretary General so agree. Such an agreement may be reached either without resort to the reconsideration procedure referred to in Chapter XII of the Rules or under a conciliation arranged by the Joint Committee on Reconsideration pursuant to Rule 112.5 (g). The agreement shall provide that the recommendations of the external specialist are final and binding on all parties and that the staff member relinquishes the right to any further recourse in the matter. The external specialist shall be instructed to limit himself to issuing a technical opinion on the classification of the post.

(b) In the absence of an agreement as provided for in paragraph (a) above, or as an alternative to it, the staff member may exercise his rights under Chapter XII of these Rules.

(c) To satisfy the requirement of Staff Rules 112.1(a) and 112.5(e), when a staff member requests a hearing or reconsideration relating to the classification of his post he must specify in his written request whether his grievance is based on (1) the omission of functions in the description of the post or (2) the sufficiency of the post review conducted by the Department of Human Resources.

Rule 102.5 Liabilities and Disciplinary Measures

(a) Any supervisor who in assigning functions to a staff member under his supervision fails to comply with all the requirements set out in Rules 102.3 and 103.7 shall be personally liable for any monetary damages incurred by the General Secretariat resulting from such assignment and shall personally make full restitution to the General Secretariat for those damages, pursuant to Rule 103.1.

(b) Any supervisor who fails to observe the prohibitions regarding assignment of functions set forth in Rules 102.3 and 103.7 shall be subject to the disciplinary procedures set forth in Rule 110.5 and Chapter XI of the Staff Rules. All disciplinary measures provided for under this rule are cumulative and not mutually exclusive.

Rule 103.7 Allowance for Special Duties

(a) Any staff member may be instructed to assume temporarily duties and responsibilities of a post of a higher level as part of his regular work and without additional compensation. However, an allowance for special duties shall be paid to a staff member who is required to assume on a temporary basis, for more than six months without interruption:

(i) All the duties and responsibilities of a post at a higher level than his own; or

(ii) More than 50% of those duties and responsibilities of a higher-level post that distinguish the level of that post from his own, if a post review reveals that the combined duties and responsibilities assigned to the staff member warrant a higher grade; or

(iii) New functions that, when combined with the duties and responsibilities already assigned to the staff member, warrant a higher grade as evidenced by a post review.

(b) The allowance shall be paid beginning the day after the completion of the sixth month in which the staff member performs the higher level duties. The post review required in the situation arising under paragraphs (a)(ii) and (iii) above shall be conducted before the expiration of the six month period.

(c) In accordance with Rule 102.3, a supervisor wishing to assign new duties for more than two months shall provide a staff member with written instructions to that effect and, through the appropriate channels, shall so notify the Department of Human Resources. A staff member who believes that the duties assigned to him may give rise to the allowance for special duties and who has not received written instructions may himself notify the Department of Human Resources in writing. A list of the new duties must be submitted with his written notice.

(d) If, before the end of the six month period, it appears that the need for the assignment of duties will continue, the supervisor shall send written notice to the Department of Human Resources stating the reasons for the extension of the assignment, indicating how the functions normally performed by the staff member will be carried out, and identifying the source of the funds to be used for payment of the allowance. If no source of funds is available the assignment shall be rescinded. No staff member shall be required to perform special duties for more than six months in the absence of an allowance.

(e) An assignment of special duties in accordance with this Rule shall not exceed 12 months and, except as provided in paragraph (f) below, the payment of an allowance shall not exceed 6 months. Before the assignment expires the supervisor shall inform the Department of Human Resources whether he intends to fill or make other use of the post, if it is vacant, or to redistribute its duties. The staff member may decline to perform the special duties after the allowance ceases.

(f) A staff member whose post is reclassified in accordance with Rule 102.3 shall continue to perform its duties and responsibilities until the resulting vacancy is filled through competition, and shall receive the allowance for special duties of a higher-level post beginning the day after the completion of the sixth month from the date the reclassification is approved by the Secretary General. The auditing and decision making process regarding the classification of a post shall not exceed six months from the date of receipt of the request for an audit and the required job description by the Department of Human Resources. The incumbent of the post being reviewed shall not be entitled to any payment prior to or retroactive from the date of approval by the Secretary General of the post classification.

(g) The amount of the allowance for special duties shall be equal to the increase in remuneration to which the staff member would be entitled if he had been promoted to the level of the post whose functions he is performing.