AIIC-UN (Agreement 2007-2011) as ratified by AIIC and the Organizations

Agreement concerning conditions of employment of short-term conference interpreters

In meetings between representatives of the Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conférence (AIIC) and representatives of the Chief Executives Board (CEB), it has been agreed that, subject to the approval of AIIC and of the organizations members of the United Nations Common System of Salaries, Allowances and Other Benefits (hereinafter referred to as "the organizations") the conditions of employment of short-term conference interpreters (hereinafter referred to as "interpreters") shall be established in accordance with the provisions set out below.

I. Procedure and Scope

1. Notification of approval. Each organization individually, and AIIC, shall notify the CEB secretariat of its approval of the conditions specified herein. The CEB secretariat shall inform all parties immediately as each notification of approval is received.

2. Scope. This Agreement shall be applicable on a world-wide basis to the servicing of meetings organized by parties to the Agreement, by any mode of interpretation. It shall be open to all existing organizations of the UN Common System and shall be extended by mutual agreement to any organization entering that system during the period of validity of the Agreement. The list of organizations which are party to the Agreement is contained in Annex C. A more detailed list of organizational entities to which the Agreement applies is contained in Annex D.

3. Duration. This Agreement shall be valid for the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2011. If for unavoidable reasons, a new Agreement can not be concluded before the expiration date, this Agreement may be extended for a fixed period with the agreement of all parties. However, every effort should be made to conclude the negotiations for a new Agreement prior to the expiry date, and negotiations should therefore commence well ahead of the date of expiry.

4. Re-negotiation. The provisions of this Agreement concerning remuneration may, at the request of AIIC or of the organizations, be re-negotiated in the event of:

A reform of the international monetary system; or
The abandonment by the organizations of the US dollar as the sole basis for the establishment of Professional salaries or allowances; or
A modification of the United Nations post adjustment system; or
A major change of circumstances in one or several of the ratifying organizations which leads any of the parties to the belief that they cannot fully respect the terms of the present agreement, provided that any of these events affects the real value of the remuneration of interpreters. Any other event substantially affecting the real value of the remuneration may, by agreement between AIIC and the organizations, give rise to review of all or some of the provisions regarding remuneration.

II. Appointment and Termination

5. Non-discrimination in recruitment. Recruitment of interpreters shall be made in accordance with the principles laid down in the Charter, the Constitutions or in the staff regulations and rules of the organizations, in particular and for example, Article 101(3) of the United Nations Charter: "The paramount consideration in the employment of staff ... shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity ..."; and United Nations Staff Regulation 4.3: "In accordance with the principles of the Charter, selection of staff members shall be made without distinction as to race, sex or religion ...".[1]

6. Letters of appointment. Whenever a freelance interpreter is required to work for an organization, he/she shall be employed on a short-term daily (or monthly) appointment. The terms of the letter of appointment shall be in compliance with the relevant terms of this Agreement, to the extent they differ from the organizations' rules governing short-term staff. They shall indicate: (a) the place of work; (b) the relevant dates; (c) the net salary rate; (d) the gross salary equivalent, where staff assessment is applicable;[2] (e) a reference, if possible, to "Caisse" and accident and sickness insurance, and the percentage to be deducted;[3] (f) whether daily subsistence allowance is payable, and in what form.

7. Privileges, immunities and responsibilities.

Interpreters, when working for the United Nations or organizations of the United Nations system, have, by virtue of their contract, the status of officials[4] pursuant to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies and/or to the relevant headquarters agreement with the host country as applicable to each individual organizations, and as such enjoy the privileges and immunities, and have the responsibilities, pertaining to that status.
Interpreters, when working for organizations of the United Nations common system, shall be bound by the strictest secrecy, which must be observed towards all persons with regard to information gathered in the course of professional practice at non-public gatherings.

8. Professional domicile.

For the purpose of this Agreement, the professional domicile of the interpreter is the domicile for which the interpreter considers himself/herself as local;
The professional domicile of interpreters who are members of AIIC is published in the AIIC Yearbook. The organizations will request an interpreter who is not a member of AIIC to declare his/her professional domicile when s/he seeks or accepts employment by an organization. An interpreter may have only one professional domicile at any time and may change it only for consecutive periods of not less than six months. Employment conditions shall be governed by the professional domicile of the interpreter at the time employment is offered, to the exclusion of his/her home address or actual place of residence.

9. Cancellation or termination of appointment.[5] When an organization terminates or cancels the appointment of an interpreter:

for such reasons as ill health[6], abandonment of post, misconduct or unsatisfactory service, it shall pay the interpreter such indemnities as are provided in the staff rules of the organization applicable to short-term staff;
for any reason other than in (a), more than 30 days before the beginning of the appointment, it shall pay the interpreter an indemnity equal to 50 per cent of the salary for the period set out in the letter of appointment or other document which would be issued by the appropriate authority within the organization concerned;
for any reason other than in (a), 30 days or less before the beginning of the appointment, it shall pay the interpreter an indemnity equal to 100 per cent of the salary for the period set out in the letter of appointment or other document which would be issued by the appropriate authority within the organization concerned;
for any reason other than in (a), after the beginning of the appointment, it shall pay the interpreter an indemnity equal to 100 per cent of the salary in respect of the unexpired period of the engagement.

The interpreter shall make every effort to find reasonably equivalent employment for the period in respect of which such indemnities are payable, and if an organization or third party offers him/her such employment the indemnity payable shall be reduced by one day for each day thereof.

III. Remuneration

10. Daily rates. The salary rates for employment on a daily basis are specified in Annex A hereto. Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, one full day's salary shall be payable to the interpreter for each calendar day, defined as the 24 hour period from midnight to midnight or part thereof (including the sixth and seventh days of the normal work week and established public holidays falling within a continuous period of employment in one organization) during which the interpreter is under employment with or working for an organization. The salary rates set out in Annex A are net of tax on income received from the employing organization and of staff assessment.[7]

11. Monthly rates

An interpreter employed by an organization for a continuous period of more than 60 days shall be employed on a monthly appointment from the first day of his/her appointment;
The monthly salary under such appointment shall be 323/12 of the appropriate daily salary in Annex A;
When a period of employment at daily rates is extended in such a way that the extension, together with the original duration of the contract, exceeds 60 days, the provisions governing monthly appointments shall apply from the sixty-first day;
For interpreters employed on monthly appointments, annual leave shall accrue at the rate of 2-1/2 working days for each month of service and pro-rata for each part of a month. The organization may indicate the periods falling within the employment period when annual leave must be taken, provided that the interpreter is given at least 15 days notice and that such leave consists of at least 5 consecutive days (excluding Saturdays and Sundays);
At the end of an appointment unused leave shall be paid at the rate of 12/260[8] of the net monthly salary for each day of leave not taken;
When an interpreter is employed on a monthly basis at duty stations away from his/her professional domicile, s/he shall be entitled to a subsistence allowance in accordance with the practice of the employing organization governing regular staff.

12. Remuneration during travel. Except where it is agreed in advance that any necessary travel can reasonably be accomplished during the period of assignment, an interpreter recruited from outside the place of work shall, unless s/he is entitled under paragraph 10 to a full day's pay in respect of work on the day concerned, be paid one half of the relevant rate in Annex A in respect of the calendar day preceding the beginning of his/her assignment and one half-day's salary in respect of the calendar day following the end of his/her assignment. For any additional calendar day of required travel, including authorized stop-overs and rest periods, s/he shall receive full salary; such additional days shall be specified in the contract.

IV. Travel Conditions

13. General. Except as may be otherwise provided in this Agreement, the travel rules applicable to the regular staff of the employing organization on missions of similar duration shall be applicable to the travel of the freelance interpreters employed thereby. Travel shall be provided for the interpreter to proceed from his/her professional domicile (or from another place within the same cost) to his/her place of work and return. This provision shall not preclude any arrangement whereby costs may be shared between the employing organization and a previous or subsequent employer provided the periods of employment are immediately consecutive. The organizations shall make every effort to ensure uniformity of practice in respect of travel rules.

14. When an organization offers the interpreter a contract it shall endeavour to inform him/her of the arrangements it intends to make for transportation. If the interpreter accepts the contract, s/he shall accept whatever travel arrangements are made, unless his/her professional obligations prior to and subsequent to his/her contract are such as to render impractical, in the opinion of the organization, participation in such arrangements. Full salary and daily subsistence allowance as applicable shall be payable to the interpreter in respect of any days in addition to the normal length of the assignment which s/he is required to spend away from his/her professional domicile by reason of the travel arrangements made by the employing organization.

15. Stop-overs and rest periods during air travel.

In scheduling the departure of an interpreter for a conference, the employing organization shall make every effort to ensure that when travel takes place by air or mostly by air the departure takes place sufficiently early that (in the case of a journey with no intermediate stop-overs):

if the scheduled travel time for the journey is between 6 and 10 hours, the interpreter will not be required to commence duty within 12 hours after arriving at his/her destination;
if the scheduled travel time is more than 10 but not more than 16 hours, the interpreter will not be required to commence duty within 24 hours of arriving at his/her destination;
if the scheduled travel time is more than 16 hours, the interpreter will not be required to commence duty within 48 hours of arriving at his/her destination;
minor variations from these minima arising from scheduled flight timetables (for example, infrequency of flights) shall be acceptable within reason subject to prior agreement before the journey begins;

Subject to paragraphs 12, 13 and 14 above the interpreter shall be entitled to utilize these rest periods either at his/her destination or in the form of stop-overs en route;
Similar rest periods shall be allowed on the interpreter's return from mission; a rest period at the end of the return journey shall count as travel time for purposes of salary payment.

16. Subsistence allowance. An interpreter serving away from his/her professional domicile shall be entitled to receive a daily subsistence allowance, which may vary from area to area in accordance with a schedule of rates established from time to time by the United Nations on the basis of appropriate hotel and subsistence costs in the city concerned. The conditions for payment of the allowance shall be those applicable to the regular staff of the employing organization, including, where necessary, recourse procedures.

V. Social Security

17. Social security. The salary rates for freelance interpreters set out in Annex A include a social security element of 9 per cent. At the written request of the interpreter that element, together with a further element of 4.5 per cent of salary representing the interpreter's contribution, shall be withheld by the employing organization and paid in the name of the interpreter into either the Caisse de pensions des interprètes et traducteurs de conférence or the Caisse de prévoyance d'interprètes de conférence.

18. Loss of earnings, sickness and accident insurance, and sick leave.[9] Each organization shall enable interpreters to participate in a loss of earnings insurance and sickness insurance in respect of illness or injury occurring during the term of their respective appointments. The organization will grant sick leave to the extent it is provided for other short-term staff under their staff rules.

VI. Working Conditions

19. Manning strength

At no time shall less than two interpreters be assigned* per booth.[10]
No interpreter shall be assigned* as the only member of a team capable of providing relay from a given working language.
In the case of two-language meetings serviced from one booth, at least three interpreters capable of working into both languages shall be assigned*.
In the case of the two-way booths, referred to in paragraph 21 below, at least three interpreters shall be assigned* to the booth, of whom at least two must be capable of working into two of the languages used.
More interpreters shall be assigned* when:

the language combinations are such that fewer interpreters would not be sufficient to cover them;
numerous written presentations are to be given;
the technical or scientific nature of the conference calls for extensive insession preparation.

Teams including one or more Group II interpreters should comprise enough experienced pivots in the same or other booths. Group II interpreters shall thus not be required to provide relay.

* In this context an interpreter assignment is the posting of one interpreter to one meeting.

20. Workload

It shall be the responsibility of the employing organization to ensure a normal workload for interpreters.
A normal workload means that no interpreter shall be called upon to work at more than two meetings per day (a meeting being a period of about 2-1/2 to 3 hours from the time when the interpreter is required to be on duty) or more than eight meetings on average per week, a week being a period of any seven consecutive days.[11]
There shall be a break of at least one and a half hours between meetings.
The maximum period over which meetings may be averaged shall not exceed two consecutive weeks.
Interpreters should, whenever possible, be given reasonable notice of meetings outside normal working hours.
If in a genuine emergency an organization is unable to implement the above provisions regarding weekly workload and if adequate time off cannot be given within the interpreter's period of employment as per (3) above, it shall grant him/her compensation in a form which shall be agreed for the duration of this Agreement between each organization and AIIC.

21. Except for two-language meetings serviced from one booth, there shall be one booth per active language, working in one direction only. However, in the case of languages for which a sufficient pool of multilingual interpreters is not yet available, it may provisionally be necessary to use a two-way booth working both into the language concerned, and from it into one of the other languages of the meeting, the remaining booths working from the interpretation in relay. The organizations and AIIC agree that this method is unsatisfactory and that it should be avoided wherever possible.

22. Technical installations. Organizations shall endeavour to ensure that facilities provided for meetings at headquarters or elsewhere comply with the following international standards applicable to simultaneous interpretation facilities:

ISO 2603:1983 for built-in booths
ISO 4043:1981 for portable booths
IEC 914:1988 for equipment.

In planning the construction or modification of booths and/or equipment for simultaneous interpretation, organizations will make every effort to comply with the latest version of the relevant standards, keeping in mind the need for uniformity of equipment and facilities within the organization.

VII. Discipline

23. Without prejudice to its right to apply such disciplinary measures as are provided for under its internal rules or in the letter of appointment, an organization may draw the attention of AIIC to any case where the conduct of one of its members has been unsatisfactory. In that event, AIIC shall be bound to make a disciplinary investigation and, if the complaint is wellfounded, to apply appropriate measures. The disciplinary measures provided for in an organization's internal rules may, with respect to a case where an interpreter abandons his/her post prior to the completion of his/her period of employment, include the withholding of all or part of the remuneration due.

VIII. Settlement of Disputes

24. Every effort will be made to resolve disagreements between organizations and interpreters in an informal and expeditious manner with a view to settling them without recourse to the procedures outlined in the next paragraph.

25. Disputes between an interpreter and an organization, arising out of the application of his/her individual letter of appointment, shall be settled through the relevant procedures applicable to the regular staff of the organization concerned, and under the same conditions as applicable thereto, or any other procedure provided for in the letter of appointment or in this Agreement.

26. Disputes between AIIC and an organization or organizations, arising out of the interpretation or application of this Agreement, shall in a first stage be the subject of direct conversations between AIIC and the organization or organizations concerned, with a view to settling the dispute; if no settlement can be reached, the two parties shall refer the matter as rapidly as possible to a jointly-agreed third party for an opinion. On the basis of that opinion, the parties will discuss within a reasonable time-frame a mutually acceptable solution.

IX. Other Provisions

27. Training. Organizations will so far as possible facilitate the participation of interpreters who work regularly for them in training programmes they provide for their regular interpretation staff, provided that such participation shall be without cost or administrative complications for the organization.

28. Professional delegations. AIIC will designate professional delegations which will ensure liaison with the organizations on questions of mutual interest, including matters arising out of paragraph 23, and the organizations will facilitate such activity.

29. Official circulars. The CEB secretariat will transmit to AIIC copies of all official United Nations circulars concerning post adjustment classifications, and relevant exchange rates, subsistence rates and changes in base salaries of permanent staff as and when they are published. It shall also collect and inform AIIC annually of the statistics regarding employment of freelance interpreters by the organizations.

Annex A

Rates

I. Definition of rates

Headquarters rates

1. Interpreters having their professional domicile in North America[12], Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, when working in that area shall be paid the corresponding "Headquarters rate".

The World rate

2. Irrespective of the professional domicile of the interpreter, all work which is not covered by (1) above shall be paid at the World rate.

II. Methodologies for calculation of rates

Headquarters rates

3. Headquarters rates are based on a target rate formula. The target rates are composed of a core base rate and a post adjustment component. The core base rate is $312 which is equivalent to the daily rate for Switzerland without the post adjustment for Switzerland. For the purpose of the initial calculation only, the respective post adjustment for each headquarters location was added, thus yielding the target rates for the six headquarters countries[13]. They represent targets for eventual application. Movements towards the targets shall be gradual through annual real increases ("supplements"), described in paragraphs 15-17 of this Annex.

The World rate

4. The World rate is established in United States dollars and is calculated as a simple average of the United States dollar equivalent[14] of the six headquarters rates.

III. Currency of payments

Headquarters rates

5. Headquarters rates may, at the discretion of the organization, be expressed in letters of appointment either in local currency or in US dollars at the rate of exchange which yields that amount of local currency.

6. Payment will be made in local currency unless otherwise mutually agreed between the organization and the interpreter.

The World rate

7. Salaries are in principle payable in US dollars. However, at the prior request of the interpreter, payment may be made in the currency of the country of the interpreter's domicile or, by agreement with the organization, in a third currency. The rate of exchange to be applied shall be the United Nations operational rate in force on the date payment is made.

IV. Daily rates payable from 1 January 2007

8. Until such time as they may be adjusted according to the procedures set out below, the rates payable with effect from 1 January 2007 shall be:

Headquarters' rates

		Interpreter I	Interpreter II
North America	(US Dollar)	462.50	308.50
Austria	(Euro)	403.00	268.50
France	(Euro)	366.50	244.00
Italy	(Euro)	387.50	258.50
Switzerland	(Swiss Franc)	665.00	443.00
United Kingdom	(UK Pound)	236.30	157.50

World rate

9. Until such time as it may be adjusted according to the procedure set out below, the world rate in United States dollars payable with effect from 1 January 2007 shall be:

Interpreter I: US $ 498.50
Interpreter II US $ 332.50

V. Adjustment of rates

Administration

10. The CEB secretariat shall be responsible, in consultation with AIIC, for calculating adjustments in rates and for their prompt notification to the organizations and to AIIC. Organizations and AIIC shall be kept regularly informed of the cost-of-living index and relevant UN exchange rate movements in the areas listed.

Adjustment of rates in respect of any real-income increases granted to staff members in the professional category

11. If after 1 January 2007 the real salaries of regular staff are increased, the daily rates set out in paragraph 8 above, including the social security element and any additions or deductions made in respect of cost-of-living changes, shall be increased by the same percentage (subject to rounding) as the average increase in real income for grades P.3, step 1 and P.4, step 15. For this purpose:

Real income change shall be defined as the percentage difference between the net salary and post adjustment of an official with dependants in Geneva on the day before the change in base scales and on the day after the change, but excluding any increase due to the movement of the post adjustment index.
The average shall be calculated as the mean of the increase at the minimum of P.3 and the maximum of P.4.

Periodic adjustment of rates in respect of cost-of-living changes

Adjustment mechanism

12. For each 3 per cent movement of the appropriate index as described below, expressed as a certain number of points as indicated in the appendix to this Annex, an adjustment per point of 1 per cent of the appropriate base rate[15] will be made.[16]

13. All indices shall be calculated monthly as soon as the figures become available. Three months after the relevant cost-of-living index first reaches 103, 106, 109, 113, 116, 119, 123, etc., an adjustment shall be made on the first of the following month. If an index were to decline, an appropriate negative adjustment would be necessary. For levels below 100, three months after the index first reaches 97, 94, 91, 87, etc., an adjustment shall be made on the first day of the following month.

Baseline indices for Headquarters rates

14. The Headquarters rates shall be adjusted in accordance with the movement of the cost-of-living index for the appropriate headquarters city. The baseline indices (with each index being set at 100 as of the first day of this Agreement) for the purpose of the adjustment procedure, dated 1 January 2007, are:

North America
Switzerland
France
UK
Italy
Austria

Annual supplements for selected Headquarters rates

15. In addition to any real income increases described in paragraph 8 above, and the periodic cost-of-living adjustments described in paragraphs 9,10 and 11, the daily headquarters rates will be augmented each year by supplementary payments for France, the United Kingdom and North America (US and Canada), and one annual payment for Italy.

16. The supplementary amounts will be added to the daily rates as of 1 January of each year of the Agreement for France, UK and North America and as of 1 January 2008 for Italy.

17. The amounts of the supplement will be as follows:

France: Euro 5.00 per annum
UK: Pound 2.00 per annum
N. America: US Dollar 2.00 per annum[17]
Italy: Euro 3.00 for one year

Adjustment procedure for the World rate

18. The World rate shall be adjusted quarterly to reflect the cost-of-living increases in accordance with paragraphs 12 and 13 above, and/or the application of the annual supplement for the six headquarters, as applicable. If there has been no change in the six headquarters rates and if no annual supplement is due, the quarterly adjustment will be made only on the basis of the official UN exchange rates in place on the relevant date. The adjustment shall be calculated using the official UN exchange rates in place on the first day of the fourth month by taking the simple average of the United States dollar equivalent of the six headquarters rates, rounded to the nearest $0.50.

Degree of ultimate rounding

19. Rates after adjustment shall be rounded for payment purposes as follows:

Currency	Rounded to nearest
Swiss Franc	1
UK Pound	0.10
US Dollar	0.50
Euro	0.50

VI. Beginners and members of restricted teams

20. Beginners, as defined in Annex B, shall be paid two thirds of the daily rate otherwise applicable to the location concerned. Members of restricted teams shall be paid 160 per cent of the daily rates otherwise applicable.

Annex A - Appendix

Sequence of levels in cost-of-living indices

... 84, 87, 91, 94, 97, 100, 103, 106, 109, 113, 116, 119, 123, 127, 130, 134, 138, 143, 147, 151, 156, 160, 165, 170, etc.

Annex B

Group I and Group II Interpreters[18]

Definition

1. Group II interpreters are those who have not qualified for reclassification in Group I to which the rates in Annex A apply.

2. It is agreed that the following shall be classified as Group I:

Former staff members, provided that they had qualified for "fully fledged" status in the organization (e.g. P-3 and above);
Interpreters with substantial experience, but who have not worked, or rarely worked in the UN system;
Interpreters who have been formally reclassified to Group 1;
Interpreters who have consistently worked for UN family organizations with Group 1 status although never formally reclassified;
Interpreters living and working in areas where the application of this Annex is impractical (see paragraph 5 below).

3. Once an interpreter has been granted Group 1 status by the organizations, it shall be retained even if s/he is subsequently called upon to use a different language combination.

4. If an organization has legitimate doubts as to the professional experience of interpreters referred to above, it may request a ruling from the Board (see paragraph 13 below).

Exception

5. While it is considered desirable in principle that all interpreters other than those listed in (2) above should be classified as Group II, it is agreed that:

Interpreters living and working in areas such as South America where the application of this Annex is impractical, should normally be classified as Group I and that this classification will remain valid, even if they subsequently work in an area normally subject to the provisions of the Annex;
Interpreters working in the Chinese booth who had traditionally been seconded by their Government should continue, for work in this booth, to be classified on the basis of information received from the country concerned.

Salary rates

6. Group II interpreters shall be paid two thirds of the relevant salary rates for Group I interpreters, as indicated in Annex A to this Agreement.

Conditions of employment

Group II interpreters shall not be assigned to work as pivots or as members of "restricted" teams, nor shall a booth be manned entirely by such interpreters;
Employment of Group II interpreters by the organizations shall not exceed 10 per cent of their collective total manning strength in any year. The CEB secretariat shall annually supply statistics on the employment of such interpreters.

Reclassification to Group I status

Eligibility for reclassification to Group 1 status

8. Group II interpreters shall normally apply for reclassification after having completed 200 days' work for UN family organizations, or if they can reasonably expect to have completed 200 days by the next meeting of the Board referred to below. The application shall be made to the Chief Interpreter (or person responsible for the interpretation service) of the organization which is the interpreter's principal employer, who will transmit the application to the Board. If an organization considers a Group II interpreter's work to be of sufficiently high standard, it may suggest that s/he apply for reclassification after less than 200 days. Account may also be taken of experience in other international organizations or conferences applying similar recruitment standards. In no case, however, may a Group II interpreter be considered eligible for reclassification before s/he has worked 100 days with UN family organizations.

9. All Group II interpreters are required to apply for reclassification before completing 300 days' work with UN family organizations. A Group II interpreter who has not been reclassified after 300 days shall normally be offered no further work until s/he has passed a formal reclassification examination (see below). If s/he fails the examination, s/he shall not be entitled to apply again until one year has elapsed.

Reclassification procedure

10. Reclassifications shall normally be by decision of a "Classification Board" composed of the Chief Interpreters or persons responsible for the interpretation services of the organizations parties to the Agreement (including UNOG and UNOV) or their representatives. AIIC shall be represented by an observer.

11. The Board shall normally meet three times a year, and shall be convened and coordinated by the Chief of Interpretation Services, UNOG. Board members not wishing to be present may send their comments in writing to the Co-ordinator or have themselves represented by another organization.

12. Lists of eligible candidates who have applied for reclassification shall be circulated to all participants and AIIC one month prior to each meeting.

13. The functions of the Board shall be:

To give a ruling on any issues raised under paragraph 4 above, after making enquiries, as necessary;
To decide, on the basis of their experience with each candidate, whether that candidate's work has reached the standard of proficiency required for his/her reclassification to Group I status. The standard of proficiency for reclassification being the equivalent of the level which organizations would require for the recruitment of a staff interpreter.

14. The Board, by consensus and with a quorum of five members present or represented by another organization, may decide:

that the candidate's work has reached the required standard and that s/he is reclassified accordingly, or
that the candidate's work as a whole has not yet reached the required level but that s/he is invited to apply again before s/he has completed 300 days' work for organizations of the UN system, or
that his/her work is such that s/he should not be employed further in organizations of the UN system.

15. The Board shall prepare a report conforming to a standard presentation giving the reasons for its decision, a copy of which shall be sent to the candidate.

16. The Co-ordinator shall communicate the decisions of the Board, whether or not the candidates have been reclassified, to the chiefs of the competent units of the organizations with a copy to the AIIC secretariat.

17. Approved reclassifications shall have effect from the date of decision taken on the subject by the Classification Board.

Recourse by Group II Interpreters

18. If a Group II interpreter does not accept the negative findings of the Board, s/he shall be entitled to a formal examination.

19. In this case, an application for admission to the reclassification examination shall be submitted by the free-lance interpreter to the chief interpreter or person responsible for the interpretation service of the organization which is his/her principal employer. The chief interpreter or person responsible for the interpretation service, in agreement with the personnel service of the said organization, shall initiate the reclassification procedure in accordance with the rules agreed upon between the organizations. Alternatively, the freelance interpreter may address his/her application for reclassification directly to the Training and Examinations Section, United Nations Office at Geneva. The board of examiners shall be convened as soon as possible.

20. The rules of the reclassification examination shall be as follows:

The several tests constituting the examination shall be regarded as forming an indissoluble whole;
The examination shall consist of the interpretation, from two passive languages, of passages from two statements - general statement and a more specialized statement - made in each of those languages. Each of the four tests shall last about 10 minutes;
The candidate shall have a choice between the following possibilities:

For general tests:

i. Laboratory recording of his/her interpretation from tape recordings; or
ii. Interpretation from tape recordings before the board of examiners; or
iii. Recording, without the candidate's knowledge, of the interpretation s/he has actually given in a meeting, and simultaneous recording of the original.

In view of the technical difficulties of the method described in sub-paragraph (c) (iii), the candidate shall be duly informed that it may entail delaying the date on which the board of examiners is convened.

All tests shall be based on statements delivered at a normal speed and of reasonable difficulty. The candidate shall be given an opportunity to listen to the recordings for a few minutes before beginning to interpret. S/He shall be informed, before the start of each test, of the subject of the statement to be interpreted and the purpose of the meeting for which it was made;
For the specialized tests, the subject of each of the statements to be interpreted and the name of the body in which it was made shall be communicated to the candidate in advance so that s/he may brief himself.

21. The inter-organization board of examiners shall be composed of permanent interpreters delegated by the participating organizations, under the chairmanship of a representative of the administrations. AIIC shall be represented by an observer.

22. The report which the inter-organization board prepares after the examination shall give the reasons for its decision and shall conform to a standard presentation.

23. The Training and Examinations Section shall transmit to the candidate and to the Classification Board a copy of the report of the board of examiners.

24. The Training and Examinations Section shall communicate the results of the examination, whether the candidate has been reclassified or not, to the chief of the competent units of the organizations of the United Nations system, with a copy to the AIIC secretariat.

25. The reclassification of free-lance interpreters shall have effect from the date of the decision taken on the subject by the inter-organization board of examiners.

Annex C

List of organizations which are party to the Agreement

United Nations (including its Departments, Offices[19] and Regional Commissions[20], as well as Funds and Programmes[21] and other entities administered by the United Nations Secretariat[22])

International Labour Organization

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

World Health Organization[23]

International Civil Aviation Organization

Universal Postal Union

International Telecommunication Union

World Meteorological Organization

International Maritime Organization

World Intellectual Property Organization

International Fund for Agricultural Development

World Food Programme

Annex D

List of organizational entities to which the Agreement applies

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

United Nations University (UNU)

International Trade Centre (ITC)

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC)

Pan-American Health organization (PAHO)

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria

[1] Organizations confirmed that as set out in the Standards of Conduct all international civil servants may form and join associations, unions or other grouping to promote and defend their interests and that they should enjoy protection against discriminatory or prejudicial treatment based on their status or such activities as staff representatives.
[2] UPU reserves its position on para. 6 (d).

[3] UPU reserves its position on para. 6 (e).

[4] In view of the reference to the Convention on Privileges and Immunities, the term "officials" instead of "short term staff members" has been introduced in the Agreement. It is understood that the term "officials" includes "short term staff members".

[5] UPU reserves its position on paragraph 9 (a).

[6] In this case the organizations will endeavor to find a way to ensure that the insurance coverage does not cease.

[7] FAO, UPU and IFAD reserve their positions as regards the question of possible reimbursement of tax if it were to be levied. AIIC stated that it understands that staff rules and regulations may prevent organizations from reimbursing tax if levied but would ask for a commitment from organizations that they do everything in their power to prevent such a situation from arising (e.g. by issuing "attestations", etc.) and that they use reasonable legal means to defend interpreters who were nevertheless faced with tax demands. The rates in Annex A are agreed on the assumption that in all cases they are net of tax on income and of staff assessment. If in spite of efforts by organizations this assumption should prove incorrect in any particular case, AIIC would wish to reopen the matter of rates in that particular situation.

[8] Minor variations of the fraction may occur as a result of different organizations' practices.

[9] UPU reserves its position on this article.

[10] The UN reserves its position re para. 19 (1).

[11] Similarly, for periods of employment of less than five days, a normal workload is five meetings in a threeday contract, or a maximum of seven meetings in a four-day contract.

[12] United States and Canada

[13] The target rates calculation was made on the basis of the daily rate for Switzerland, post adjustment indices for Switzerland, Paris, New York, London, Rome and Vienna and currency exchange rates as of April 2006.

[14] Based on the United Nations operational rate of exchange.

[15] I.e. real income increases described in paragraph 11 and supplements described in paragraph 15 are to be incorporated in the base rates.

[16] In each case the statistical data to be used will be the local currency COL index as published by the national or local authority (e.g. the cost-of-living data published for Geneva by OCSTAT, for North America, the C. P. I. for New York).

[17] It is understood that this amount will be reviewed no later than the mid-term review.

[18] Interpreters classified in Group II are defined by AIIC as "beginners".

[19] UNOG, UNOV, UNON.

[20] ECA, ECE, ESCAP, ESCWA, ECLAC.

[21] UNHCR, UNICEF, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNEP, UN-HABITAT, UNODC, UNFPA, UNRWA, WFP.

[22] OHCHR, UNOPS, UNU, ITC, ICTY, ICTR, UNCC (see also Annex D).

[23] PAHO, UNAIDS, The Global Fund (see also Annex D)