UN Pay and Benefits Review Reaches Next Stage, FICSA Calls For Preserving Salary Margin

VIENNA, AUSTRIA. The Federation of International Civil Servants’ Associations (FICSA), representing some 40,000 staff across the United Nations (UN) common system, set out its priorities for the 102nd session of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), which meets in Vienna from 14 to 24 July 2026.

The session marks a further step of a review of the compensation for United Nations internationally recruited staff that began several years ago and is set to result in recommendations that will shape their pay and benefits across the system. The General Assembly in November will consider the ICSC recommendations and decide on their implementation. 

FICSA enters this week’s session with two clear commitments: 

• It will uphold a consensus package on allowances and benefits reached in a May by the working group.
• It will oppose any reduction of the net remuneration margin that forms the basis of UN professional pay.
   

Supporting the consensus on allowances and benefits

In 2021, the UN General Assembly asked the ICSC to modernize allowances and benefits for internationally recruited staff. From early 2024 onwards, three working groups gathering the Commission, UN organizations and staff federations met across nine sessions in New York, Malaga, Krakow and Geneva. The last of these meetings was held in Geneva from 18 to 22 May this year and reached consensus on most outstanding issues, covering measures on mobility, rent subsidies, education grants, child allowances, family arrangements at non-family duty stations, and rest and recuperation.

“FICSA supports this consensus,” says Imed Zabaar, FICSA’s President “considering the budgetary constraints faced by many UN Organizations  alongside other cost-containment measures implemented to address resource constraints in delivering their mandates and in particular owing to the significant time and effort required to reach these conclusions”.

Pushing back against a lower remuneration margin

Another central issue in Vienna this week concerns the net remuneration margin called the Noblemaire principle, which stipulates, that UN professional salaries should compare within 110 to 120 percent of pay in the United States federal civil service, with a 115 percent midpoint representing the ideal equilibrium. If the comparator hits the ‘trigger points’ of 113 or 117 percent, salaries are adjusted by the ICSC. 

This system was established to ensure that international organizations could successfully recruit and retain high-calibre staff from all of their member states.

The General Assembly asked the ICSC to explore options for a narrower range and a lower midpoint. In July this year, the Commission presented an extensive report, comparing remunerations across international organizations and the common system comparator, considering both salaries and benefits. 

The paper found that at 21 of the 25 duty stations examined, the common system comparator’s package is more generous than the UN package. Institutions such as the World Bank and the OECD also pay considerably more.

FICSA believes, that the ICSC’s analysis speaks against a reduction of remunerations. “The evidence refutes the view that Common System staff are excessively compensated,” Mr Zabaar says, and notes, that the report’s data indicates the opposite of lowering staff pay. “Who would leave a secure national civil service, relocate internationally, accept the strictures of international service, and separate from family, only to receive a lower compensation?” 

FICSA strongly objects to any reduction in the current margin range, midpoint or trigger levels. Such a decision would move the common system even further away from the Noblemaire principle by weakening its ability to attract and retain staff in line with Article 101 of the Charter. It will further impact the credibility and predictability of the compensation system and, ultimately, damage staff morale, trust and weaken the organizations' ability to fulfil their mandates effectively.

The Federation strongly supports the report’s recommendation to maintain the existing parameters while undertaking a broader evidence-based review, including a full examination of the wider international labour market and all elements relevant to the practical application of the Noblemaire principle.

The ICSC’s recommendations will go to the General Assembly’s 81st session, where Member States will take the final decisions. FICSA urges Member States to weigh the evidence carefully and to protect a compensation framework on which the delivery of their own mandates depends.

About FICSA. The Federation of International Civil Servants’ Associations represents staff associations and unions across the United Nations common system. FICSA fosters the development of the international civil service in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter and the constitutions of the specialized agencies, defending staff rights and working to maintain equitable conditions of service.