UNDT/2015/045, Bharati
The Tribunal found that the application deals with identical matters as that subject of judgment Tintukasiri et al. UNDT/2014/026, affirmed on appeal by the Appeals Tribunal (Tintukasiri et al. 2015-UNAT-526), and that it was not receivable, ratione materiae, under the terms of art. 2.1(a) of its Statute.
The Applicant contests “the decision of OHRM … [finding] that [as per] the comprehensive salary survey conducted in New Delhi, India, in June 2013, current salaries for locally–recruited staff are above the labour market”, as contained in the UN/OHRM cable of 1 October 2014, which led to the fact that salary scales for staff members on board prior to 1 November 2014 were not reviewed after the survey and that child and language allowances were reviewed downward.
Receivability ratione materiae: The decision to freeze existing salary scales and to review downward allowances is of a general order, it applies to a group of staff members defined exclusively by their status and category within the Organization at a certain point in time and location. Hence, the Applicants did not contest an administrative decision under art. 2.1(a). Binding character of UNAT judgments: The Dispute Tribunal shall recognize, respect and abide by the jurisprudence of the Appeals Tribunal.