Appointment (type)

The staff member based in Geneva applied for the post in Suva, Fiji, and was offered the temporary appointment as a result. After many rounds of communications regarding the date of reporting for duty, the Administration informed him that his suggested date was not acceptable, and it was proceeding to contact the next candidate.

The UNAT noted that the offer of appointment had specified that it was “for an initial period effective as soon as possible to 31 December 2024”. The UNAT found that by unconditionally accepting the offer of appointment, the staff member was in a quasi-contractual...

The UNAT noted that the decision to place Mr. Flekal on an OTI process is only an intermediate step in the performance management process and has had no direct impact or adverse consequence on his terms of appointment or the contract of employment and therefore is not an administrative decision subject to judicial review.

The UNAT found that Mr. Flekal was separated for medical reasons, declared incapacitated and awarded a disability pension. He was not separated from the Agency due to non-renewal of his fixed-term appointment. Therefore, Mr. Flekal’s challenge of the 29 August 2023 decision...

The UNAT held that the former staff member did not request an oral hearing during proceedings before the UNDT and thus cannot be allowed to do so on appeal. The UNDT as the trier of fact cannot be bypassed.

The UNAT found no error in the UNDT’s finding that the former staff member’s post-separation grievances were beyond its scope of adjudication and not receivable because there was no prior and timely request for management evaluation. The sanction for non-compliance with this mandatory internal procedure is the non-receivability of the application challenging the contested decision.

The...

The UNAT noted that the Mobility AI was not a decision of “individual application” but a general instruction applicable to all staff members who entered on duty on or after 1 October 2023, as Ms. Stepanova did.

Ms. Stepanova was attempting to modify the terms of appointment or the contract of employment, by exempting herself from the application of the Mobility AI and she was therefore not challenging “non-compliance” with “the terms of appointment or the contract of employment”, which is what is required under Article 2(1) of the UNDT Statute. Accordingly, the UNAT held that her claim was...

The UNAT held that the UNDT did not err when it relied on ST/AI/20100/4/Rev.1 (Administration of Temporary Appointments) in finding that the staff member’s performance evaluation was made in accordance with the procedural requirements in that Administrative Instruction. ST/AI/2021/4 (Performance Management and Development System) does not apply to Mr. Fagasinski’s performance evaluation, because the aforementioned Instruction explicitly states that it does not apply to temporary appointments.

The UNAT found that the purpose of the performance evaluation was not to reexamine whether Mr...

The UNAT held that the UNDT did not err in finding that the former staff member’s change of title following a reclassification did not amount to an abolition or discontinuance of her post, rendering her termination of appointment unlawful.

The UNAT also determined that the UNDT did not err in awarding the former staff member compensation in lieu of two years’ net base salary. In this regard, the UNAT emphasized that the UNDT correctly considered the fact that the former staff member’s permanent appointment included a specific undertaking stating that she could only be terminated due to an...

The UNAT held that the UNDT erred in finding that the former staff member’s performance had not been fairly and objectively evaluated. It found that she knew that her telecommuting arrangement was temporary and nevertheless reported to her duty station in Fiji only months later. It emphasized that her delay in requesting the payment of a travel lump sum and in applying for a visa for her mother did not excuse her failure to report timeously. The UNAT confirmed that, in assessing her performance, the Administration was entitled to consider the extent of, reasons, and consequences of her...

The UNAT found that the UNRWA DT erred when it found Ms. Fakhouri’s application was receivable.

The UNAT held that despite being a staff member, the decision with which Ms. Fakhouri took issue was one which related to the terms of a potential contract not as a staff member but as an independent contractor and therefore the contested decision was not one that was appealable. The UNAT emphasized that Article 2(1)(a) of the UNRWA DT Statute makes clear that appeals can be brought against administrative decisions where such decisions relate to the staff member’s terms of appointment. But the...

The UNAT found that Article 9(4) of the UNDT Statute regarding the nature of the judicial review that the UNDT conducts in disciplinary cases did not apply to the instant case as it was adopted after the hearing was held. The parties presented their evidence, including a chronology of agreed facts as well as live testimony, and made their respective post-hearing submissions, under a legal framework where Article 9(4) was not operative and it would be inappropriate, and a denial of due process, to apply a new evidentiary framework at the point of decision, ex post facto.

The UNAT found that...

The UNAT held that the Administration’s restructuring of the finance function was a genuine exercise and a proper use of the Administration’s discretion in responding to evolving needs. The UNAT did not agree that the Administration acted unfairly or unjustly in abolishing the former staff member’s post. The UNAT further held that consultation with the former staff member was not required prior to the abolition of her post.

The UNAT found that the former staff member’s dissatisfaction with the UNDT’s assessment of the evidence of workplace issues between her and her supervisor does not...