|
|
|
|
From
the Staff Committee 2014-2015 |
(202) 370-4645 |
|
September 16, 2014 |
SN- 7/14-15 Original: English |
|
Information
for the Staff regarding the meeting of the Staff Committee with the Acting
Director of Human Resources September
5th, 2014. The Staff Committee of the OAS met with
the Acting Director of the Department of Human Resources (DHR) on September
5th, in order to discuss the following: list of vacancies, schedule of the
pending competitions funded by the ICR and continuing contracts, disparities
in the "standardized" job description, statutory precedence of
competitions (continuing contracts and Series B contracts) over the call
for Résumé practice, investments in human capital and training
initiatives, review of the policies on access to information, workplace and
sexual harassment and whistleblower protection, access to scholarships
offered by observer countries and staff professional development plans. In
attendance were two employees of the Department of Human Resources along
with various Staff Committee members. The President of the Staff Association thanked the
Acting Director of DHR for receiving the Committee. She also reiterated
the need to continue working on topics of common interest. 1- List of the vacancies and pending competitions
schedule (funded by the Regular Fund and funds other than the regular fund,
including ICR, and continuing contracts) The Acting Director of DHR informed that the list
will be reviewed with the Staff Committee and would be published shortly.
Regarding the order of precedence, he indicated it will be established in
order of seniority (3 years on short term contract without having gone to
competition or eighteen months receiving special duties allowance).
Furthermore, the list does not include posts funded by sources other than the
regular fund. In response to the Committee concerns that the General
Standards do not prohibit competitions for posts funded by sources other than
regular fund, the Acting Director noted that the rules do not prohibit nor
require. In addition the Acting Director informed that statutory
competitions for long-term contracts will take place simultaneously with
competitions for continuing contracts. The Staff Committee expressed the need to discontinue
the differentiated treatment of those posts funded by sources other than the
regular fund, particularly considering that long term contracts have been
granted, with or without competition, to posts financed by specific and ICR
funds. This practice creates discrepancies in the treatment of staff
members. In addition, the Committee expressed its grave concern
that resources are being unfairly directed towards providing competitions for
P5 Director posts instead of towards continuing contracts which should have
precedence over the filling of the recently announced management positions. The Committee expressed deep objection at scare
resources being destined towards the “Call for Resumes”, a practice which is
neither regulated nor does mandatory, in determent to the regulated
competition process with represent an acquired staff right. The Committee reiterated its request for a list of
all vacant position in the Secretariat, to promote transparency in the
selection process. Additionally, the Committee requested information on
expedited competitions for posts that had not yet reached the 3 year mark,
thereby opening competitions for series B contracts on an exceptional basis. 2- Investment in
human capital of the organization The Acting Director of DHR reported that the topic of
training and staff development is a grave concern to the Department however,
due to cuts made by Member States to said line item in the 2014 budget; it
was not possible to provide training and in fact was unable to process
tuition reimbursement to staff. He added that said budgetary costs also
resulted in loss of the staff posts assigned to the area of training and
staff development. Subsequently, no material or personnel
resources exist to invest in the human capital of the Organization. The Committee expressed its deep concern regarding
the lack of training and staff development. Staff representatives consider
that capacity exists within the Secretariat to undertake training in language
skills, computer skills (Excel, Oracle) as well as institutional norms,
ethics, harassment and conflict resolution, among others, to serve as a
palliative in the absence of institutional training plan. The Committee
reminded the Acting Director of DHR of the multiple proposals submitted by
the Committee during the past years to coordinate efforts and facilitate
training activities to which no response has been received to date.
Additionally, the Committee requested that the submission and selection of
beneficiaries of grants provided by observer countries be conducted in an
open and transparent manner. The Committee urged the Acting Director to re-direct
resources currently destined to support the unregulated and not mandatory
call for résumé practice and re-direct these resources to coordinate staff
training activities. 3- Harassment in
the Workplace The Acting Director of DHR reported that this topic
is of great interest for the Secretary General. He indicated that they have
been receiving and processing several complaints related to harassment. The
Acting Director shared his personal experience indicating that in all his
years of service he had not witnessed such an elevated increment in harassments
complaints as in the last six months. He noted that the DHR hired
an expert to train a select group of OAS staff, particularly in DHR, and had
looked into the possibility of creating a training video to raise awareness,
but costs were quite high. He noted that the best tool is that staff members
are well informed about existing instruments, in particular the related
Executive Order. The Staff Committee expressed deep concern regarding
the situation that is being experienced by the staff of the General
Secretariat and inquired about the specific actions that are being taken by
the DHR, including the review of regulations and processes related to
harassment and the establishment of joint working groups bringing together
staff from various areas of the Secretariat such as the Staff Committee, the
Department of Human Resources and the Department of Legal Services as well as
staff from dependencies that have experience and knowledge in the subject
matter. The Committee expressed concern about the lack of
training in the subject matter and indicated that in terms of staff training
more cost effective and immediate options exist than the creation of a
training video. The Staff Committee routinely informs staff of their
rights and obligations, however, training and raising awareness on harassment
requires involvement at the institutional level and not ad hoc since the mere
existence of rules does not ensure their knowledge by staff members. After the meeting, the Personnel Committee thanked
the Acting Director of DHR for his time and willingness to hear the proposals
of the staff and he reiterated his intention to work together on the issues
discussed and others that are of interest to the staff. |
|
