Dear XXX,
Find below the useful information regarding DSA,working hours and Holidays
Daily subsistence allowance (DSA) comprises the organization’s total
contribution towards such charges as lodging, meals, gratuities, transport cost
from place of lodging to the first place of official business, and vice versa, and other
payments made for personal services rendered.
DSA is applicable for staff members on authorized official travel and for
non-staff members when their travel is organized and paid by the organization.
For non-staff members
it shall be on the basis of the standards established for staff members, except
where otherwise expressly provided in the terms of their contract.
Relevant Policies
DSA shall be paid for periods away from the duty station, during which the
traveler is on official travel status. Such periods include authorized rest
stopovers and stopovers that are part of the approved official itinerary.
If the traveler has a stopover in the approved official itinerary that is seven
(7) hours or more in duration they are entitled to DSA for accommodation at the
stopover point. To receive overnight DSA at the rate payable at the stopover
place the traveler must obtain accommodation and present the corresponding
receipted hotel bill with the travel claim.
For travel on initial appointment, reassignment and repatriation, DSA shall be
paid only for authorized rest stopovers when travel is organized and paid by the
organization
Description
Work Week
The organizations of the common system have agreed to establish a common
workweek amongst their representations at the same duty station. A common
workweek is to be understood as a similar (equal) length of the workweek, i.e. the number of
scheduled hours of work in a week, among United Nations system organizations at
a duty station. The actual scheduling of working hours may vary from Organization to organization, usually following the pattern of their counterparts in the government. The common workweek has the advantage of equity among United Nations system staff at
the duty station.
Relevant Policies
Official Work Hours
Working Hours
1. In duty stations outside New York, the UN Resident Representative (RR) or
Head of Office establishes the normal official working hours in consultation
with the
other UN system agencies’ representatives and members of the LSSC, and taking
into consideration local government working hours and prevailing practices.
2. In New York, the normal working hours are from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, Monday
through Friday, with a break of one hour for lunch. During the period when the
General
Assembly (GA) is in session (1 October to 31 December), the working hours are
from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm.
3. Staff members are required to work during the hours set by the RR or Head of
Office, unless they are working under a flextime or part-time arrangement.
Exceptions may be made by the RR or Head of Office as the needs of service may require.
4. Working hours for each UN office are normally between 35 and 40 hours per
week. For certain categories of staff, the normal work week may be longer, in
compliance with prevailing practices of the best local employers as established
in the local salary scale.
Lunch Break
5. In accordance with International Labour Organization (ILO practices, all
staff members, except those working on a part-time basis, must take a minimum
30-minute
lunch break during the regular work day.
Official Holidays
6. The organizations of the common system have ten official holidays annually,
including those official holidays mandated by the General Assembly, which shall
be
observed at all duty stations.
7. The official holidays not mandated by the General Assembly are being
designated by the Secretary-General at Headquarters, and by the RR or Head of
Office, in consultation with the agency representatives at the same duty station. These
holidays are applicable to all common system organizations in the duty station.
8. If any official holiday occurs on a non-scheduled workday, either the
preceding or the following day is considered as an official holiday.
Designated Holidays
9. The General Assembly (GA) in March 1998 decided to increase the number of
official holidays from nine to ten on a yearly basis, in order to observe the
two holidays of Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha. As a result, staff at all duty stations
are to observe the two holidays of Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha. The remaining
eight official holidays should be decided upon at each duty station, after
consultation with common UN system organizations and staff (see paragraph 10below).
Offices Outside New York
10. In offices outside New York, eight of the ten official holidays are
designated annually by the CEDAW-UN Resident Representative (RR) or Head of Office,
following consultation with the other UN agency representatives at the same duty station.
New York Office Holiday Schedule
11. The ten official holidays in NY are the following:
a) New Year’s Day (1 January);
b) President’s Birthday (third Monday in February);
c) Good Friday (Friday preceding Easter Sunday);
d) Eid Al-Fitr;
e) Eid Al-Adha;
f) Memorial Day (last Monday in May);
g) Independence Day (4 July);
h) Labour Day (first Monday in September);
i) Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November); and
j) Christmas Day (25 December).
12. If one of the above days occurs on a Saturday or Sunday, the preceding
Friday is considered an official holiday in lieu of Saturday and the following
Monday in lieu of Sunday.
13. If a holiday falls during a period of annual or sick leave, the staff member
will receive credit for that day, i.e. the holiday will be recorded as a holiday
and not a sick or vacation day.
National, Local and Religious Holidays
14. Absence from work on any national, local or religious holiday is charged to
AL, unless that day is one of the ten official UN holidays at the duty station
concerned (see paragraph 11 above).
Holiday Credit during Special Leave
15. If a holiday falls during a period of special leave [e.g. Maternity Leave
(ML)], Special Leave Without Pay (SLWOP), the staff member does not receive credit for that day, i.e. the holiday is included as part of the period of special leave.
Please ensure you acknowledge receipt of this to me
Regards,
Dr. Katherine Kay Fabic
E-staffing,Office of Human Resources Management
United Nations Committee on the Elimination
Of Discrimination Against Women
DC1 25th Floor, Room 3458, One UN Plaza,
New York, NY 10017.
Tel/Fax: +1-585-282-0170
eMail:
[email protected]
