WHAT OSLA CAN HELP YOU WITH

Your employment within the UN system (whether in the Secretariat, or in one of many of its agencies, funds and programmes) is governed by your contract of employment and the staff rules and regulations and related administrative issuances. If you feel any of these may have been breached, the Office of Staff Legal Assistance (OSLA) may be able to help you.

Learn more about how OSLA helps.

OSLA can only help on matters relating to your UN employment, including (but not limited to) the following issues:

INVESTIGATIONS AND DISCIPLINARY PROCESSES AND MEASURES

OSLA can provide guidance on your obligations as the subject of an investigation, and can assist you in providing comments on an investigative report or responding to charges of misconduct. OSLA can also represent you in challenging the imposition of an administrative or disciplinary sanction in the formal justice system.

APPOINTMENT-RELATED ISSUES, FROM SELECTION TO ABOLITION OF POSTS

OSLA can represent staff challenging administrative decisions relating to their appointment. This includes calculation of their step-in-grade; separation by non-renewal or termination; improperly conducted recruitment exercises; lateral transfers including in the context of restructuring; refusal to grant continuing appointment; failure to comply with obligations to find suitable alternative posts, and many other issues related to appointments.

DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT AND ABUSE OF AUTHORITY

OSLA can advise on the Organisation’s rules in addressing discrimination, harassment and abuse of authority which provide for both informal intervention and formal complaint. OSLA can advise on the procedure for making a formal complaint, the types of evidence that might be used to substantiate it, and offer support to staff members intending to embark on this process.

BENEFITS AND ENTITLEMENTS

Rules about benefits and entitlements can be obscure. OSLA can advise on how the rules apply in to a particular set of circumstances and help determine whether or not they have been complied with. Where the rules have not been complied with, OSLA can help staff members to challenge the non-compliance or refusal of a particular benefit or entitlement. The same applies to cases where an overpayment is alleged and the Administration is seeking to recover funds from staff members.

PROTECTION FROM RETALIATION

OSLA can provide guidance on the applicability of whistleblower-protection policies and help whistleblowers get justice by challenging the retaliatory act or omission.

PERFORMANCE AND REBUTTALS

OSLA can advise staff members on the procedures for challenging a negative performance appraisal, the relevant procedural and substantive considerations and evidence that might be applicable. OSLA can support staff members required to undergo remedial action to correct alleged poor performance and represent in formal challenges to administrative actions based on poor performance.

DECISIONS OF TECHNICAL BODIES

OSLA can help challenge decisions of bodies such as the Advisory Board on Compensation Claims (ABCC), the UNJSPF Standing Committee, and other technical bodies, when the decision appears to have been wrongly taken.