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Prima facie unlawfulness Having reviewed the Applicant’s performance evaluations, the Tribunal had doubts as to whether the Applicant’s direct supervisors were indeed consulted before the lieutenants finalized and gave to the Applicant the performance evaluation forms on 9 June 2011. Absent an explanation from the Respondent on this particular point, these doubts had a direct impact on the lawfulness of the contested decision. If indeed the Administration did not follow its accepted and reasonable practice, the decision not to extend the Applicant’s appointment due to his poor performance...

The UNDT found that OHRM’s decision not to consider (endorse) her for a temporary P-3 post in DM (Umoja) and to deny her conversion from the FS-6 level to the P-3 level was valid and lawful. The decision not to consider the applicant eligible for a temporary P-3 post was correct since she only fulfilled one of the mandatory and cumulative conditions – five years of professional experience – in November 2011. The Organization properly determined that the Applicant could not be converted from the FS-6 level to the P-3 level because there was no contractual relationship between the Applicant and...

Receivability - The Tribunal accepted that the extended use of the temporary appointments was the reason for the disparity in the amount of relocation grant that the Applicant was entitled to and that this negatively affected the Applicant. This however was the subject of a settlement agreement between the parties. Further, in this Application the Applicant was effectively asking the Tribunal to find that the Rules on relocation grant for temporary employees are unlawful. Those rules were based on resolutions of the General Assembly. Pursuant to art. 2 of the UNDT Statute the Tribunal’s...

Receivability - The Tribunal accepted that the extended use of the temporary appointments was the reason for the disparity in the amount of relocation grant that the Applicant was entitled to and that this negatively affected the Applicant. This however was the subject of a settlement agreement between the parties. Further, in this Application the Applicant was effectively asking the Tribunal to find that the Rules on relocation grant for temporary employees are unlawful. Those rules were based on resolutions of the General Assembly. Pursuant to art. 2 of the UNDT Statute the Tribunal’s...

The administrative instruction ST/AI/2011/6 (Mobility allowance), which superseded ST/AI/2007/1 (Mobility allowance), was applicable to the Applicant’s request for mobility allowance submitted in January 2012. ST/AI/2011/6 included the requirement of five years of continuous service in the United Nations common system, which in the present case was not fulfilled. The Tribunal found that the Applicant was not eligible because she did not meet one of the requirements for payment of the mobility allowance, namely five years of continuous service in the United Nations common system.

Administration’s discretion in constituting interview panels for temporary appointments - It is within the discretion of the Administration as to how the interview panel for a temporary position is constituted as long as the composition of the said panel is consistent with the requirements of ST/AI/201/4/Rev. 1.

Role of Managers in the United Nations - A manager in the United Nations Organization is not supposed to set his or her supervisee up for failure as was done in this case. Rather, the manager has a duty to help the supervisee by affording him or her opportunity to improve in any area that his or her performance is found unsatisfactory. Duty to give reasons for non-renewal - The Respondent has a duty to provide reasons for the non-renewal of contract when requested by the affected staff member. The reasons proffered by the Respondent for the non- extension of the Applicant’s TA contract are not...

The UNDT found that the decision to deny the Applicant’s request for advance home leave was unlawful and ordered the Respondent to correct the Applicant’s personnel file to reflect the home leave points she accrued while working on temporary appointments, and to pay her material damages in the amount of USD1,543.04, in compensation of the price she paid for her flight ticket. Transition from a temporary to a fixed-term appointment: Sec. 1.2 of ST/AI/2010/4/Rev.1 indicates how the Organization shall proceed when granting a fixed-term appointment after a temporary appointment. However, it does...

The Tribunal found that the main issues for determination in this matter were 1) whether a temporary job opening limited to “local recruitment only” is lawful, and 2) if the Applicant’s candidature was given full and fair consideration. On the first issue, the Tribunal found that the Respondent’s argument that pursuant to section 1.1 of ST/AI/2010/4 Rev.1 (Administration of temporary appointments) the Organization may limit temporary job openings to local recruitment cannot stand. It also found that there were no legal grounds for the Respondent’s assertion that limiting temporary recruitments...