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Staff Terms and Conditions

This is a summary of the principal terms and conditions for Diplomatic staff at the Commonwealth Secretariat.  The full terms and conditions are set out in the Commonwealth Secretariat Staff Rules and Regulations which form part of the contract of all staff members.

A. GENERAL

Contract Term

Appointments are on limited term contracts of usually three years. Contracts may be renewed by mutual agreement and subject to fully satisfactory performance. Staff at this level may normally serve for not more than two three-year contracts. The Secretary-General will retain the flexibility to approve or decline extensions as circumstances warrant.

Medical

Appointments are subject to passing a medical examination.

Clearance

Appointments are subject to government clearance to the extent that person's own government raises no objection to their suitability for employment.

Probation

All appointments are subject to a six-month probationary period. This may be extended at the Secretary-General’s discretion for up to another six months.

Period of Notice

During probationary service, the appointment may be terminated by the Secretariat giving five weeks notice. Thereafter employment may be terminated by the Secretariat giving six months, or by the staff member giving three months, written notice.

Annual Leave

Subject to the terms of the letter of appointment, each full-time staff member shall accrue annual leave at the rate of 25 working days per year, increasing to 30 days after 10 years continuous service. Leave without pay will not qualify for the earning of annual leave entitlements.

Pension/Gratuity

The Secretary-General may, upon application made to him/her allow leave entitlements accrued with other official bodies to count towards the 10 year figure. Staff Members are eligible to join the Secretariat’s Gratuity or the Pension Scheme.
In respect of the Gratuity Scheme each month the Secretariat will pay the equivalent of 15 per cent of gross salary into an interest bearing account. At the end of the contract, the staff member will receive an ex-gratia payment of the cumulative amount including interest. This payment is subject to the Secretary-General’s discretion.
The Secretariat’s Group Stakeholder Pension Plan (GSPP) is a combination of a group personal pension and a stakeholder scheme. Pension benefits reflect the level of personal contributions and the value of the investments in the personal plan on retirement. The Secretariat contributes 15 per cent of gross salary; personal contributions are subject to limits based on a percentage of earnings depending on age. Further information on the above schemes can be obtained from the Payroll Section of the Finance & Management Information Section.

Retirement Age

65th birthday.

Private Healthcare and Dental Cover

The Secretariat provides non-contributory private healthcare and dental cover for all London-based employees, their spouses/officially recognised partners and children. The cover is subject to underwriting conditions.

Insurance

Subject to funding, the Secretariat may put in place various insurance schemes for its employees. Where such policies are in place, they shall be subject to the conditions of the underwriters and may change from time to time. Among the insurance policies the Commonwealth Secretariat provides is the Personal Accident/Travel policy. With regard to bodily injury, the underwriters conditions for that policy provide for the following, in respect of pre existing conditions; Any contributory degenerative condition or disablement (as determined by a Qualified Medical Practitioner) known by the Insured Person to be in existence at the time of sustaining Bodily Injury will be taken into account by Insurers in assessing the level of benefit payable.

Further information on the existing policies would be made available to staff by the Corporate Services Division on request. Staff shall be notified of any changes in the policies as they become necessary from time to time.

B.   BRITISH CITIZENS & UK RESIDENTS

Salary                  

Gross salary is subject to deductions of National Insurance contributions and Commonwealth Secretariat internal income tax paid at UK income tax rates.

C. OVERSEAS DIPLOMATIC STAFF

“Overseas Diplomatic Staff Member” means an officer of the Secretariat who has been accepted by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office as being a citizen of a country mentioned in section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981, other than a person who is a citizen only of the UK and Colonies, and is permanently resident outside the UK.

Salary

Gross salary is subject to deduction of Commonwealth Secretariat internal income tax paid at UK income tax rates.

Expatriation Allowance

Is paid monthly at the rate of 14% of gross salary.

Installation & Termination Grant

Is provided on commencement and termination of appointment at 7% of net salary.

Travel

Upon commencement and termination of service, the staff member, and accompanying dependent family members, as defined in Staff Rule 69 c and d in the Human Resource Handbook, will have their air travel costs met by the Secretariat, as follows:

Economy – flights of 4 hours or less
Business – all other flights For all journeys, the most direct means of air travel available will be provided. In respect of the accompanying family members the relevant journey must be made within 6 months of the eligible staff member’s own journey.

If travel is not at the same time as the member of staff, family members will only be entitled to economy class travel, irrespective of length of journey.

Education Allowance

An education allowance will be payable, provided the dependent* child is in continuing full-time education at the time of the staff member's appointment. The staff member may be entitled to 75% or £18,706 of admissible costs per child per scholastic year.

The admissible cost is subject to a maximum amount of £24,941 per child per scholastic year.

Home Leave

The staff member is entitled to home leave once in every three years of qualifying service. Please see Rule 81 in the Sutherland Human Resource Handbook for more information.

Transporting Effects & Initial Appointment Arrangements

The Secretariat will pay the cost of transporting by sea a staff member’s effects up to 1,000 cubic feet in the case of a single staff member, and up to 1,500 cubic feet in the case of a married staff member plus an allowance of 100 cubic feet per dependent child residing with the head of the family. In addition, up to 15 kilograms of excess accompanied luggage by air will be allowed on joining and termination for the staff member, spouse and each dependent child. No separate allowance will be made for transporting an automobile and not more than one automobile may be allowed to be transported. The Secretariat will meet the reasonable cost of insurance of personal effects. For a 20 foot container (with an internal volume of 1,050 cubic ft) the value of goods insured is up to £35,000. For a 40 foot container (with an internal volume of 2000 cubic ft) the value of goods insured is £70,000.

Subsistence allowance & Accommodation on arrival

When taking up an appointment and provided a staff member stays in approved accommodation, subsistence allowance at the appropriate United Nations rate will be paid in respect of the staff member, accompanying spouse (75 per cent) and dependent children* (50 per cent) for a period of up to two weeks from the date of the staff member’s arrival in post. Thereafter, the cost of a furnished apartment will be reimbursed for a period of up to three weeks or until suitable accommodation is secured, whichever is the earlier.

Expatriation Benefits

Should the staff member acquire resident status in the UK, the entitlement to expatriate salary and other benefits will cease immediately. Staff claiming these benefits will be required to sign an annual ‘residential status certificate’. An improper claim will lead to disciplinary action.

Diplomatic Immunities & Privilege

Staff members will enjoy (provided they are not citizens of, or permanently resident in, the UK) the privileges and immunities appropriate to a diplomatic agent of comparable rank. This implies full personal immunities extending to the family of the staff member, inviolability of private residence, continuing customs privileges, and purchase without payment of UK tax of motor cars and dutiable spirits. Staff members are expected to observe the laws of the UK and other countries in which they may work. Any involvement with the police or other law enforcement authorities must be reported. The Secretary-General may waive diplomatic immunity if he considers it necessary for the reputation or the best interests of the Secretariat.

+  On submission of receipts

*  ‘Dependent child’ means an unmarried natural or legally adopted child of the staff member, who normally resides with the staff member and who is under the age of 18 years or, a child under the age of 21 years who is in full time attendance at an educational institution.  With regards solely to Education Allowance a dependant child is recognised up to the age of 25.  The Secretary-General may also declare a child who is not the natural or legally adopted child of the staff member as “dependent” on the basis of the information provided.  The Secretary-General may waive the requirements as to age and attendance at an educational institution where the child is totally and permanently disabled.  Unless otherwise specified, no more than three children (as designated by the staff member) will be considered as “dependent” for the purpose of these rules.

Reforms to Terms and Conditions for Staff

The following information is being made available in light of recent expressions of interest in reforms to the terms and conditions of service of Commonwealth Secretariat staff.

In March 2011, the United Kingdom’s Multilateral Aid Review found that the Commonwealth Secretariat’s terms and conditions of service were not competitive with other intergovernmental organisations.

In May 2011, the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Board of Governors representing all member governments welcomed the proposals to address the competitiveness of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s remuneration package. They emphasised the need to attract the right quality and calibre of staff.

In August 2011, the report of the independent Eminent Persons Group concluded that the remuneration package offered by the Commonwealth Secretariat for diplomatic and professional staff was uncompetitive. It concluded that the Secretariat’s terms and conditions of service needed to be aligned with the norms of international organisations.

In January 2012, the Commonwealth Secretary-General approved a package of reforms to the terms and conditions of staff. The Secretary-General has terms and conditions of employment that are determined by Commonwealth Heads of Government, and is not therefore a beneficiary of the decisions taken regarding all other staff at the Secretariat.

The reforms included a 3.8% increase in the salaries of all staff, and the provision of non-contributory private healthcare and dental cover for all staff and their immediate families. The existing benefits package was restructured to narrow the remuneration gap between overseas and locally-recruited staff. This included the conversion of the former accommodation allowance payable to overseas-recruited staff (at a rate of 30% of gross pay - taxed at certain grades but not at others) into a 14% expatriation allowance for overseas staff, while the remainder was converted to salary available to both overseas and locally recruited staff at diplomatic and professional levels. The package also included the alignment with the United Nations of the education allowance available to overseas-recruited staff.

With regard to support staff salaries, the international firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that the Commonwealth Secretariat is competitive with both the private and public sectors in the United Kingdom (from where the Secretariat recruits all its staff at these levels) for similar work.

These changes were all advocated by the Commonwealth Secretariat Staff Association and followed extensive consultation with all staff, as well as external validation by the International Civil Service Commission. This reform package is one advance towards closer alignment with international norms; further reforms will be considered in due course.

The costs of the reforms were absorbed within and were neutral to the existing Secretariat budget, which continues to be set annually on a ‘zero real growth’ basis.

In line with all other inter-governmental organisations, staff salaries in the Secretariat are exempt from national income tax in the host country. However, the Secretariat does apply an internal income tax.

There are differentials in net remuneration for staff at different pay grades, which have remained in place following this reform package.

Diplomatic Grades

Figures showing net remuneration of diplomatic grades are set out in the table below.

Overseas-recruited staff

Paypoint

Net remuneration (GBP£)

A (Secretary-General)

Determined by Governments

B1 (Deputy Secretary-General)

131,918

B2 (Assistant Secretary-General)

91,837

C (Director)

84,734

D (Head of Section)

78,060

E (Head of Section)

70,898

UK-recruited staff

Paypoint

Net remuneration (GBP£)

A (Secretary-General)

Determined by Governments

B1 (Deputy Secretary-General)*

84,995 (TBA)

B2 (Assistant Secretary-General)

70,131

C (Director)

65,132

D (Head of Section)

59,961

E (Head of Section)

54,348

* There is currently no UK-recruited Deputy Secretary-General

Professional and Support Grades

Remuneration figures at professional and support staff levels are available on request.