����AV

The UNDT found that there was change of official duty station and that, as a result, the application of Entebbe’s post adjustment rate and payment of DSA for only 30 days were lawful. The Tribunal also dismissed all the other Applicant’s contentions. As a preliminary matter, the Tribunal examined the receivability of the application given that the parties disagreed on the date on which the Applicant ought to have known of the decision. The Tribunal found that the application was receivable. Receivability – Notification of an administrative decision: The Administration is obliged to communicate its decisions in a clear and unambiguous manner, particularly if the administrative decision affects a staff member’s entitlements. There must be certainty and clarity as to what is the decision being notified so that a staff member is in possession of actual knowledge of the precise decision that affects the terms of his/her contract. Staff members should not be expected to have to read different communications and draw inferences in this regard. When determining the date on which notification occurred, the Tribunal must consider the entire circumstances surrounding communications as held by the Appeals Tribunal. Change of official duty station: a change of official duty station pursuant to staff rule 4.8 only requires assignment from a duty station to a UN field mission. Normative hierarchy: an administrative instruction cannot limit the scope of a staff rule. Application of a post adjustment rate: under staff rule 3.7, the Secretary-General has discretion to either opt for the payment of subsistence allowance or to “install” a staff member upon assignment. The exercise of this discretion does not require that there be a “benefit” to the staff member.