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The UNAT noted that the UNRWA DT, in its Judgment, had ordered the Commissioner-General to pay Ms. Smadi the difference between the salaries and associated entitlements between her Grade of HL6 and step and the Grade HL7 and step to which she was entitled from 1 August 2017.

The UNAT held that the language of the order was unequivocal, as were its terms. The UNAT found that it had been also clearly expressed in the UNRWA DT Judgment that the US Prime Rate should apply as of 30 May 2023. The UNAT found that the UNRWA DT Judgment, in turn, had been unambiguously affirmed by the Appeals Tribunal...

The UNAT found that the UNRWA DT had correctly assessed the Agency’s application of the experience level requirements applicable to the Appellants. Specifically, regarding the teachers contesting their classification at Grade 9, the UNAT agreed with the UNRWA DT’s review of the Area Staff Post Description, which required five years of teaching experience at Grade 9 for classification at Grade 10. As the Appellants classified at Grade 9 did not meet this requirement, the UNAT held that the UNRWA DT had correctly concluded that they were appropriately classified at Grade 9.

The UNAT further...

The Tribunal noted that the Applicant’s challenges/complaints did not derive from one clear administrative decision. The first challenge was addressed to an alleged failure by the Administration to fully comply with sec. 2.4 ST/AI/1998/9 (System for the classification of posts). The second one was based on the Applicant’s apparent assumption that he should have been upgraded/promoted to GS-7 level after the upward reclassification of the post he was encumbering.

As a result, the Tribunal interpreted the application as a whole to determine exactly the starting point of the Applicant’s...

The UNAT noted that the reclassification request was made by UNIFIL and not by the staff member.

The UNAT held that although extensive delays occurred before the request for reclassification was determined by the Administration, no final reclassification decision had been taken at the time the application was filed to the UNDT by the staff member. Accordingly, since no decision had been made yet, she could not have experienced a direct adverse effect on the terms of her appointment. The fact that there were delays in the reclassification decision does not change the analysis. It is a...

The UNAT noted that the staff member had requested to be reclassified at Grade HL7 in her e-mail dated 2 January 2017 and her subsequent communications had been reiterations of that request.

The UNAT held that the Administration should compensate the actual loss of income the staff member incurred from the moment her reclassification should have been implemented. The UNAT found that the UNWRA DT had appropriately considered the time limit of six months reasonable. The UNAT concluded that the UNRWA DT had not erred in law or fact in holding that she should be paid the difference in salary and...

The UNAT held that the UNDT acted within its discretion by issuing the impugned Judgment without holding an oral hearing, especially as the issue for consideration was one of receivability. The UNAT also held that the UNDT did not err in failing to give the staff member an opportunity to comment on the Secretary-General’s reply as he did not file a motion for additional pleadings.

The UNAT found that the UNDT correctly identified that the contested decision was the Administration’s decision not to reclassify his position.

The UNAT held that the staff member should have appealed the...

The UNAT held that by requesting management evaluation of the negative outcome of the reclassification process, the staff member breached procedural prerequisites. Instead, he should have appealed the contested decision as laid down in Sections 5 and 6 of ST/AI/1998/9 (System for the classification of posts). As the staff member’s application was not receivable, the UNAT found that it could not consider his submissions and additional evidence concerning the merits of the case. The UNAT denied the staff member’s request for compensation in light of its decision to affirm the impugned...

The UNAT held that the Dispute Tribunal erred in law and exceeded its jurisdiction in finding that Mr. Suarez Liste be granted additional steps upon initial appointment contrary to the Grading Guidelines for language staff. The UNDT improperly broadened the definition and criteria of “relevant work experience” in the Grading Guidelines to include additional academic qualifications. By doing so, the UNDT had created a new factor or criterion in the application of the Grading Guidelines, e.g., consideration of a Ph.D. in the step-in-grade calculation. The UNAT held that this was a policy...

The right of the Applicant to a correct level of classification of the post and a fair level of pay derives from the effective functions performed in the years, always the same at least from 2018, functions which - according to the acknowledgement of the Administration itself - correspond to the FS-5 level.

The Applicant is entitled to a compensation calculated as the difference in salary, allowances, and other entitlements between the FS-5 level and the FS-4 level, for the period November 2018 to September 2022, plus interest at the rate correspondent to the rate of inflation, including the...

The UNAT held that in view of the case record, the contested administrative decision was the decision not to reclassify the staff member’s post, which was communicated to Appellant in a definitive and unambiguous response on 9 July 2019.

Subsequent letters to the Appellant were only reiterations of that decision. The UNRWA DT was correct to conclude that Appellant failed to submit a timely request for decision review as required prior to filing his application with the UNRWA DT, given that Mr. Abu Heija had not filed his request for decision review until more than a year after receiving the...