Judgment No. 3074
Decision
1. The decision of WMO's Director of the Resource Management Department of 13 November 2009 and the decision of the Chief of the Human Resources Division of 1 July 2009 are set aside to the extent indicated in consideration 25.
2. The case is referred back to the Organization in order that the complainant's rights may be examined in accordance with the conditions mentioned in that same consideration.
3. The Organization shall pay the complainant costs in the amount of 1,000 United States dollars.
4. All other claims are dismissed.
Considerations 15-16
Extract:
"[I]nternational organisations' staff members do not have a right to have all the conditions of employment laid down in the provisions of the staff rules and regulations in force at the time of their recruitment applied to them throughout their career.
[M]ost of those conditions [can] be altered during [their] employment as a result of amendments to those provisions. Of course the position is different if, having regard to the nature and importance of the provision in question, the complainant has an acquired right to its continued application. However, according to the case law established in Judgment 61, clarified in Judgment 832 and confirmed in Judgment 986, the amendment of a provision governing an official's situation to his or her detriment constitutes a breach of an acquired right only when such an amendment adversely affects the balance of contractual obligations, or alters fundamental terms of employment in consideration of which the official accepted an appointment, or which subsequently induced him or her to stay on. In order for there to be a breach of an acquired right, the amendment to the applicable text must therefore relate to a fundamental and essential term of employment within the meaning of Judgment 832 (in this connection see also Judgments 2089, 2682, 2696 or 2986). The conditions for the payment of removal expenses, in particular a limit on the volume of household goods which may be shipped at the Organization's expense, plainly do not have this character [...]."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 61, 832, 986, 2089, 2682, 2696, 2986
Keywords
exception; applicable law; acquired right; staff regulations and rules; amendment to the rules; breach; provision; terms of appointment; career; contract; appointment; removal expenses; personal effects; limits; condition; date; right; official
Judgment keywords
Keywords
complaint allowed; decision quashed; case sent back to organisation; terms of appointment
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