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AGREEMENT CONCERNING CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OF SHORT-TERM CONFERENCE INTERPRETERS

This agreement has been replaced. Please refer to the new 2000-2005 AIIC-United Nations agreement

Held on June 2 and 3, 1994 - CCAQ.doc

Preamble

In meeting between representatives of the Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conférence (AIIC) and representatives of the Consultative Committee on Administrative Questions (CCAQ), it has been agreed that, subject to the approval of AIIC and of the organizations members of the United Nations Common Systems 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 "the 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 CCAQ secretariat of its approval of the conditions specified herein, confirming at the same time that it is in possession of a certified true copy of the Agreement. CCAQ 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 meeting 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.

3. Duration. This Agreement shall be valid for the period from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1999.

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

(a) a reform of the international monetary system; or

(b) the abandonment by the organizations of the US dollar as the sole basis for the establishment of Professional salaries or allowances; or

(c) a modification of the United Nations post adjustment system,

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(39 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 ... ".

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 monthly¹) 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; © the net salary rate; (d) the gross salary equivalent, where staff assessment is applicable² (e) a reference, if possible, to "Caisse" and accident and sickness insurance, and the percentage to be deducted³; (f) whether daily subsistence allowance is payable, and in what form.

7. Privileges, immunities and responsibilities.

(a) Interpreters, when working for the United nations or organizations of the United Nations system, have, by virtue of their contract, the status of short-term staff members, and as such enjoy the privileges and immunities, and have the responsibilities, pertaining to that status⁴.

(b) 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 the information gathered in the course of professional practice at non-public gatherings.

8. Professional domicile.

(a) For the purpose of the Agreement, the professional domicile of the interpreter is the domicile for which the interpreter considers himself as local;

(b) The professional domicile of interpreters 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 professional domicile when 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 home address or actual place of residence⁵.

9. Cancellation or termination of appointment⁶. When an organization terminates or cancels the appointment of an interpreter:

(a) for such reasons as ill health⁷, 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;

(b) 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;

(c) for any reason other than, 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;

(d) 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 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 assessment⁸.

11. Monthly rates⁹

(a) 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 this appointment;

(b) the monthly salary under such appointment shall be 323/12 of the appropriate daily salary in Annex A;

(c) 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;

(d) 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);

(e) at the end of an appointment unused leave shall be paid at the rate of 12/260¹⁰ of the net monthly salary for each day of leave not taken;

(f) when an interpreter is employed on a monthly basis at duty stations away from his professional domicile, 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 reasonable be accomplished during the period of assignment, an interpreter recruited from outside the place of work shall, unless 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 assignment and one half-day's salary in respect of the calendar day following the end of his assignment. For any additional calendar day of required travel, including authorised stop-overs and rest periods, he shall receive full salary; such additional days shall be specified in the contract¹¹.

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 professional domicile (or from another place within the same cost) to his 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 of the arrangement it intends to make for transportation. If the interpreter accepts the contract, he shall accept whatever travel arrangements are made, unless his professional obligations prior to and subsequent to his 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 he is required to spend away from his professional domicile by reason of the travel arrangements made by the employing organization.

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

(a) 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):

(i) 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 destination;

(ii) 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 destination;

(iii) 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 destination;

(iv) 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;

(b) Subject to paras. 12, 13 and 14 above the interpreter shall be entitled to utilise these rest periods either at his destination or in the form of stop-overs en route;

(c) 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 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 organization¹², 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 commune de pension des interprètes et traducteurs de conférence or the Caisse de prévoyance d'interprètes de conférence.

18. Sickness and accident insurance, and sick leave¹³. Each organization shall enable interpreters to participate in a sickness insurance in respect of illness or injury occurring during the term of their respective appointments¹⁴. 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.

(1) At no time shall less than two interpreters be assigned^* per booth¹⁵.

(2) No interpreter shall be assigned^* as the only member of a team capable of providing relay from a given working language.

(3) In the case of two-language meetings serviced from one booth, at least three interpreters capable of working into both languages shall be assigned^*.

(4) 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.

(5) More interpreters shall be assigned* when:

(a) the language combinations are such that fewer interpreters would not be sufficient to cover them:

(b) numerous written presentations are to be given¹⁶;

(c) the technical or scientific nature of the conference calls for extensive in-session preparation¹⁶.

(6) 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.

20. Workload.

(1) It shall be the responsibility of the employing organization to ensure a normal workload for interpreters.

(2) 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 days¹⁷.

(3) The maximum period over which meetings may be averaged shall not exceed two consecutive weeks.

(4) Interpreters should, whenever possible, be given reasonable notice of meetings outside normal working hours.

(5) 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 both 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 well-founded, 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 post prior to the completion of his 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 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.

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 our of paragraph 23, and the organizations will facilitate such activity.

29. Official circulars. CCAQ 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

I. Definition of rates

Headquarters rates

1. Interpreters having their professional domicile in the Americas¹⁸, 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, al work which is not covered by (1) above shall be paid at the World rate.

II. Currency of payments

Headquarters rates

3. 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.

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

The World rate

5. Salaries in Vienna and Geneva are in principle payable in local currency and elsewhere 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.

III. Daily rates payable from 1 January 1995

6. Until such time as they may be adjusted according to the procedures set out below, the rates payable with effect from 1 January 1995 shall be:

IV. Adjustment of rates

Administration

7. CCAQ secretariat shall be responsible, 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.

8. No adjustment in Headquarters rates shall be made before 1 January 1999 except as provided in paragraph 13 below.

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

9. Subject to paragraph 8 above, if after 1 January 1995 the real salaries of regular staff are increased, the daily rates set out in paragraph 6 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 and P.4. 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

10. For each 5 percent 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 percent of the appropriate base rate will be made.

11. All indices shall be calculated monthly as soon as the figures become available. Three months after the relevant cost-of-living index first reaches 105, 110, 116, 122, 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 95, 90, 84, 78, etc., an adjustment shall be made on the first day of the following month.

Headquarters rates

12. The Headquarters rates shall be adjusted in accordance with the movement of the cost-of-living index for the appropriate headquarters city¹⁹.

V. Resumption of adjustment mechanism

13. If, before 1 January 1999, measurements made by the CCAQ secretariat show that, on the basis for comparison established by the organizations, in any of the six headquarters cities the salaries for regular staff exceed those of free-lance interpreters, the base index for adjustments in the area concerned shall be reset on the basis of the data applicable four months prior to the date of such measurements. Any headquarters rate which has remained at its 1995 level will, on 1 January 1999, be re-indexed for adjustment purposes with base 100 set in August 1998.

The World rate

14. This rate is defined as the weighted average of the US dollar equivalents, at the UN operational rates of exchange, of the Headquarters rates in paragraph 6 above, or those rates and equivalents as later recalculated according to the adjustment procedures, the weighting factors being:

Adjustment procedure for the World rate

15. The CCAQ secretariat will calculate the dollar equivalents of the local currency rates in force on the first of each month in each of the six headquarters areas and the average of those dollar equivalents, weighted by the factors given above. When the weighted average moves upward or downward by at least USD 10 as compared with the last preceding level, the World rate shall be set at the equivalent of the new weighted average, rounded to the nearest USD 0.50, with effect from the first day of the month concerned.

Degree of ultimate rounding

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

VI. Beginners and members of restricted teams

17. 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.

APPENDIX

Sequence of levels in cost-of-living indices

...
84
90
95
100
105
110
116
122
128
134
141
148
155
163
171
180
189
198
208
218
229
241
253
265
279
293
307
323
339
356
373
etc.

ANNEX B

Group I and Group II Interpresters³⁰

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:

(a) Former staff members, provided that they had qualified for "fully fledged" status in the organization (e.g. P-3 and above);

(b) Interpreters with substantial experience, but who have not worked, or rarely worked in the UN system;

(c) Interpreters who have been formally reclassified to Group I;

(d) Interpreters who have consistently worked for UN family organizations with Group I status although never formally reclassified;

(e) Interpreters living and working in areas where the application of the Annex is impractical (see paragraph 5 below).

3. Once an interpreter has been granted Group I status by the organizations, it shall be retained even if 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:

(a) 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;

(b) 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 third of the relevant salary rates for Group I interpreters, as indicated in Annex A to this Agreement.

Conditions of employment

7. (a) 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;

(b) Employment of Group II interpreters by the organizations shall not exceed 10 per cent of their collective total manning strength in any year. CCAQ shall annually supply statistics on the employment of such interpreters.

Reclassification to Group I status

Eligibility for reclassification to Group I 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 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 he has worked 100 days with UN family organizations.

9. Al 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 he has passed a formal reclassification examination (see below). If he fails the examination, he shall not be entitled to apply again until one year has elapsed.

Reclassification

10. Reclassification 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 twice a year, in March and October, and shall be convened and co-ordinated 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 Annex B participants and AIIC one month prior to each meeting.

13. The functions of the Board shall be:

(a) to decide a ruling on any issues raised under paragraph 4 above, after making enquiries, as necessary;

(b) 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 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:

a) that the candidate's work has reached the required standard and that he/she is reclassified accordingly, or

b) that the candidate's work as a whole has not yet reached the required level but that he is invited to apply again before he has completed 300 days' work for organizations of the UN system, or

c) that his work is such that 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, he/she 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 free-lance 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:

(a) The several tests constituting the examination shall be regarded as forming an indissoluble whole;

(b) The examination shall consist of the interpretation, from two passive languages, of passages from two statements - a general statement and a more specialised statement - made in each of those languages. Each of the four tests shall last about 10 minutes;

(c) The candidate shall have a choice between the following possibilities:

(1) 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 he/she 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 © (iii), the candidate shall be duly informed that it may entail delaying the date on which the board of examiners is convened.

(d) 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. He/she 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;

(e) For the specialised 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 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 Examination 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

United Nations
International Labour Office
Food and Agriculture Organization
World Food Programme
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
World Health Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization
Universal Postal Union
International Telecommunication Union
World Meteorological Organization
International Maritime Organization
World Intellectual Property Organization
International Fund for Agriculture Development
World Trade Organizations

1 See ILO reservation regarding paragraph 11.

2 UNESCO, UPU and WIPO reserve their positions on para. 6 (d).

3 ICAO reserves its position on para. 6 (e).

4 ICAO and UPU reserve their positions on para. 7 (a).

5 FAO reserves its position on the second part of the last sentence of Article 8 (b) ("to the exclusion of his home address or actual place of residence") and on its implications throughout the present Agreement, in particular with regard to Articles 11 (f), 14 and 16.

6 ICAO and UPU reserve their position on this Article.

7 In this case the organizations will endeavour to find a way to ensure that the insurance coverage does not cease.

8 FAO, UNESCO, UPU and WIPO reserve their positions as regards the question of possible reimbursement of tax if it were to be levied. AIIC stated that the rates reflected in Annex A are agreed on the assumption that in all cases they are net of tax on income and of staff assessment. If this assumption should prove incorrect in any particular case, AIIC would wish to reopen the matter of rates in that particular situation.

9 This paragraph is subject to reservation by ILO.

10 Minor variations of the fraction may occur as a result of different organization practices.

11 WHO reserves its position on this last phrase.

12 For engagements on a monthly basis, see paragraph 11 (f).

13 ICAO and UPU reserve their position on this article.

14 IAEA indicated that it would provide for participation of interpreters on daily employment in a sickness insurance scheme to the extent that such an insurance was available to other daily-paid short-term staff in accordance with the Agency's short-term Staff Rules.

15 UN, FAO and IMO reserve their positions on paragraph 19 (1).

16 IAEA reserves its position on paragraph 19 (5) (b) and (c).

17 Similarly, for periods of employment of less than five days, a normal workload is five meetings in a three-day contract, or a maximum of seven meetings in a four-day contract. In view of the organization's

18 The whole of the North and South American continents.

19 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 the Americas, the C.P.I. for New York).

3⁰ Interpreters classified in Group II are defined by AIIC as "Beginners".

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