18 December 2001
FICSA Update No. 65 2001
Pay and Benefits Systems: on the Road to Progress
An ICSC Working Group on Pay and Benefits Systems met in Vienna from 3 to 7 December 2001. The Working Group was comprised of the Chairman of the International Civil Service Commission (with no other Commissioner participating), representatives of Administrations and representatives of FICSA (Ms. Laurence Batista, Chairperson of the IMO Staff Association; Mr. Bernard P. Grandjean, FICSA President; Mr. André J. Heitz, FICSA General Secretary) and CCISUA.
For the background of the meeting, reference is made to FICSA Update 31 of 29 June 2001. The Working Group’s objective was to work towards the establishment of a revised pay and benefits system that would:
- Reward staff in a competitive and equitable manner, based on merit, skills, competence and responsibility;
- Be designed to motivate and encourage staff to develop skills and competencies and provide opportunities for career advancement;
- Be flexible, transparent and administratively simple;
- Meet organizations’ needs to attract, develop and retain high-quality staff.
(Annual Report of ICSC to the United Nations General Assembly for 2001, paragraph 15).
The Working Group took one decision of principle: it concluded "special pay systems applicable to a limited group of staff and to specific occupational groups were not an option it would pursue".
With regard to the other options and related elements of human resources management, it chartered the work to be done in preparation for its next session, to be held in UNESCO, Paris, from 25 February to 1 March 2002 (that work will focus on the current Professional and higher categories):
- The ICSC secretariat will collect and analyse available remuneration data from relevant foreign services, international organizations, the private sector and other possible sources with a view to establishing a benchmark for future comparisons.
- The ICSC secretariat will provide further descriptions of pay system reforms in national civil services, as well as of the recent experience of CERN (whose Staff Association is an associate member of FICSA).
- The ICSC secretariat will provide further details on the recruitment, retention and relocation bonuses paid in the United States civil service and make proposals for the United Nations common system.
- The ICSC secretariat will further develop a new design of the Master Standard for the classification of jobs, with samples of new grade level descriptors and new job description formats.
- The ICSC secretariat will provide examples of salary scale designs presenting a variety of options (open ranges, larger steps, etc.) to advance the development of career streams.
- The ICSC secretariat will also develop two or three models of broadbanded pay structures; the models will include alternatives for the recognition of performance, together with an analysis of the policies and the review procedures needed to support a performance pay system.
- With regard to the recognition of performance, the ICSC secretariat will also provide an outline of the considerations for introducing bonus and incentive arrangements, as well as an overview of possible non-cash rewards.
- The ICSC secretariat will develop possible modalities for the establishment of a senior executive service.
The discussions took place in a good spirit. Extensive references were made throughout the discussions to the need for broad consultations with all interested parties to ensure the smooth adoption and implementation of any new pay system.
The Working Group was also keen to keep all options open (except for the special pay systems). The need for increased organizational efficiency, for support to the reform process, which many organizations are undergoing, and for flexibility to accommodate the specific needs of the various organizations played an important role. So did also the issues that are of more direct concern to the staff. The Working Group referred, in particular, to the following:
- The lack of competitiveness of remuneration levels across the board (it will be recalled that the margin - the relation – between United Nations and United States civil service salaries currently is around 110 and that the gap between civil service and private sector salaries in the United States is approximately 30 per cent);
- The current margin imbalance at certain grade levels (particularly D-1 and D-2);
- The low levels of remuneration for "hot skill" occupations;
- The lack of career prospects for many staff members now recruited at the P-3 or higher levels;
- The impossibility for top level experts to advance in their career otherwise than through movement into managerial positions;
- The fact that certain proposals would also provide better advancement opportunities for General Service staff.
It was also highlighted that some of the proposals should not be considered as substitutes for an increase of the salary levels. On the other hand, it may be anticipated that the proposed reform of the job evaluation and classification – and the introduction of career streams supported by a broadbanded pay structure – will be major elements of a better career development system.
It is too early at this stage to make any definitive pronouncement on the proposals, which are on the table. Some are still in the form of a keyword, and none has been developed enough to allow an assessment. Whilst there is a genuine will on the part of the Administrations to bring about improvements, not much is known yet on the positions of Member States, particularly as regards the price tag that will inevitably be attached to any new pay and benefits system. FICSA will carefully monitor developments and deploy all efforts to ensure that any reform will be beneficial to staff, all staff.