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STU/70th Council/23/030
9 November 2023

42 C/44: Staff Regulations and Staff Rules

COMMENTS BY THE UNESCO STAFF UNION (STU)

Amendment of Rule 101.3. – Hours of work

STU welcomes the introduction of the Flexible Working Arrangement Policy. At the same time STU regrets that, despite its requests during the preparation of the FWA, such a policy does not allow teleworking from outside the duty station. As such, STU requests once more the Secretariat to introduce the possibility for staff to telework outside their duty station, aligning with best practices implemented by other UN Agencies, Funds and by other international organizations.

STU also notes with regret that UNESCO staff works much more than the working hours set in the Staff Rule 101.3. The United Nations-wide health survey conducted by the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) in 2022, in which 650 UNESCO staff members participated, provides an extremely worrying picture of our Organization in this respect. An initial analysis shows that, compared to other UN agencies, UNESCO staff are much more exposed to high health risks. Almost half of UNESCO staff report stress, a percentage that is almost double the average for all UN agencies. UNESCO staff take more sick days than other UN organizations. This report stresses the fact that the top 10 reasons for stress are all work-related: heavy workload, lack of resources, unachievable deadlines, lack of support from managers, lack of autonomy, lack of career development opportunities, to mention a few.

The same report reveals, among other findings, that 68% of UNESCO staff work more than what their contract foresees, and this costs to a third of them up to 10 extra hours of work per week. Not surprisingly, almost 40% of the workforce does not have time to practice physical activity, which has serious consequences on health, both physical and mental.

On this basis, STU calls on the Administration to take all possible measures to ensure that the root and systemic causes of this situation are addressed so that the workload is commensurate with the weekly working hours indicated in the Human Resources Manual, with the overall aim of improving the mental health of staff.

Amendment of Rule 104.1 bis - Appointment Review Board

The STU appreciates that the Appointment Review Board shall give advice in the context of the geographical mobility exercise on all appointments to a higher-level post, other than Director and Head of Field Office posts.

However, the STU regrets that the ARB has a purely advisory role, without any decisional power, and with no follow-up mechanism to its deliberations. STU also notes with disappointment that its repeated requests to allow members of the ARB to access the full list of pre-screened candidates, during an ARB exercise, is systematically denied by the Administration. The STU notes that the role of the ARB is to ensure that the “recruitment process complies with the Staff Regulations and Rules, and with existing policies and procedures in the Organization”. How can the ARB members assess whether a recruitment complies with HR Manual Items 5.3.E.26, 5.3.E.60-61, 5.3.E.66 and 5.3.E.71, if no access is provided to the list of pre-selected candidates?

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