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Whether the Applicant is entitled to maternity leave under staff rule 6.3(a)

While the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations is not a treaty, art. 31.1 of the VCLT sets forth generally accepted rules for interpreting an international document, which refers to interpretation according to the “ordinary meaning” of the terms “in their context and in the light of its object and purpose” (see, e.g., UN Administrative Tribunal Judgment No. 942, Merani (1999), para. VII; Avognon et al. UNDT/2020/151, para. 50; Andreeva et al. UNDT/2020/122, para. 64; Applicant UNDT/2021/165, para. 37).

The main issue was whether time taken off during part of the workday should be counted towards the “scheduled workday” and actual work (“hours of work”) requirements when calculating compensatory time off or additional payment for overtime. UNDT found that time spent on annual leave, sick leave, or compensatory time off is not included in the actual work time, but is counted towards the scheduled workday. UNDT found that DGACM’s application of Appendix B to the former Staff Rules was correct and that the Applicants failed to explain how the allegedly unlawful amendments to DGACM’s policy and...

The UNDT found that the Applicant filed her requested for management evaluation after the applicable deadline and that her application was therefore time-barred. The application was dismissed.

This case was first decided by the Dispute Tribunal by Leboeuf et al. UNDT/2010/206, rendered on 30 November 2010. The case, however, was remanded by the United Nations Appeals Tribunal for “further proceedings”. The UNDT found that the Applicants' claims against the lawfulness of the change introduced in December 2004, with effect from January 2005, are time-barred and not receivable under arts. 8.3 and 8.4 of the Tribunal’s Statute. The UNDT found that it had no jurisdiction to consider them and the application was receivable only with respect to the subsequent application of the policy on...

As the Appeals Tribunal stated in Bowen 2011-UNAT-183, the Applicant’s termination indemnity should be taken into account when awarding compensation. This is consistent with the Appeals Tribunal’s pronouncement in Warren 2010-UNAT-059 that “the very purpose of compensation is to place the staff member in the same position he or she would have been in had the Organization complied with its contractual obligations”. Therefore, as both the termination indemnity and the payment in lieu of notice stemmed from the improper termination of the Applicant’s appointment, these sums shall be deducted from...