BEST PRACTICES IN RESOLVING EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS BEST PRACTICES IN RESOLVING EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN RESOLVING PRACTICES BEST ILO Conference Proceedings, ILO Geneva, 15–16 September 2014 Best Practices in Resolving Employment Disputes in International Organizations Best Practices in Resolving Employment Disputes in International Organizations Conference Proceedings, ILO Geneva, 15-16 September 2014 Edited by Annika Talvik International Labour Office • Geneva Copyright © International Labour Organization 2015 First published 2015 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Licensing), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: [email protected]. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with a reproduction rights organization may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. Talvik, Annika Best practices in resolving employment disputes in international organizations: conference proceedings, ILO Geneva, 15-16 September 2014 / edited by Annika Talvik; International Labour Office – Geneva: ILO, 2015 ISBN 978-92-2-130039-7 (print) ISBN 978-92-2-130040-3 (web pdf) International Labour Office; Conference on Best Practices in Resolving Employment Disputes in Internatio- nal Organizations (2014: Geneva, Switzerland) dispute settlement / international civil servant / international organization 04.01.8 ILO Cataloguing in Publication Data The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. ILO publications and digital products can be obtained through major booksellers and digital distribution plat- forms, or ordered directly from [email protected]. For more information, visit our website: www. ilo.org/publns or contact [email protected]. This publication was produced by the Document and Publications Production, Printing and Distribution Branch (PRODOC) of the ILO. Graphic and typographic design, layout, composition, printing, electronic publishing and distribution. PRODOC endeavours to use paper sourced from forests managed in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner. Code: DTP-JMB-REPRO Session 1. Workplace dispute resolution best practices in national contexts FOREWORD E mployment disputes are a constant feature of the life of international orga- nizations and, despite all the good intentions, that is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. Indeed, employment disputes in this context seem to be increasing in number, principally because of the phenomenal explosion of all forms of international organizations in recent years. This has been accompanied by the growing unionization of international civil servants, resulting in greater awareness of staff rights, as well as by the cultural diversity of staff and the difficulty for international organizations to introduce reforms without revising negotiated agreements and calling into question well-established employment policies and rules. At a time when international organizations are faced by the need to adapt to the imperatives of the global economic environment, and their executive organs are calling for savings and efficiency gains through outsour- cing, tensions are almost inevitable, and the cost of painful decisions is tending to be reflected in collective complaints and other group action. And yet, no matter how unavoidable employment disputes may be, they do not always need to end in costly and protracted litigation, the exchange of heated and sometimes defamatory briefs, or the definitive alienation of the aggrieved staff member from the esprit de corps of the employing institution. Administrations and staff alike are becoming increasingly aware that recourse to judicial proceedings in administrative tribunals is not inevitable and that there are other methods – speedy, economical and less adversarial – that offer a good chance of satisfac- tory settlement. Pre-litigation arrangements, such as peer review bodies, ombudsmen and mediators, have been introduced only recently in some organizations, while others have dedicated considerable resources over the past decades to constantly improving options for dispute prevention and resolution. The ILO Administrative Tribunal, to mention but one example, which now has a mem- v Best Practices in Resolving Employment Disputes in International Organizations bership of 60 organizations, compared with 35 in 2000, has seen the number of judgments that it delivers annually almost double over the past 20 years, and its jurisprudence now increasingly deals with topics such as the duty of care, due process in internal investigations and the disclosure of evidence. Ethics, accountability and good governance are relatively new entries in the lexicon of international organizations. This proliferation of non-judicial dispute settlement procedures, and the ever growing volume of case law in the field of administrative justice, is making it necessary for legal professionals, human resources specialists, staff union repre- sentatives and academic scholars to come together regularly to share experience, draw lessons from newly-established practices and explore innovative tools. This edited volume is the outcome of just such an event, intended to improve knowledge sharing and collective reflection in the area of employment dispute resolution. The International Labour Office, in light of its values and mandate to promote decent work globally, and also its special responsibilities vis-à-vis the ILO Administrative Tribunal, intends to contribute to the best of its ability and expertise to the search for innovative ideas to prevent conflict, promote dialogue and improve social health within international organizations. Buil- ding on the success of the two-day Conference held in September 2014, the Office is considering the possibility of organizing similar events on a regular basis, and also of setting up a dedicated training programme within the fra- mework of the ILO Training Centre in Turin. Our special thanks go to all the participants and guest speakers for a most fruitful event, and particularly to Ms Annika Talvik for her excellent initiative and for having personally managed the Conference and the publication of its proceedings from start to finish. George Politakis Legal Adviser Director, Office of Legal Services International Labour Office vi Session 1. Workplace dispute resolution best practices in national contexts PREFACE This volume contains the written versions of most of the presentations made at the Conference on Best Practices in Resolving Employment Disputes in In- ternational Organizations, hosted by the International Labour Office in Gene- va in September 2014. The two-day Conference was intended to provide a forum for professionals in the field of workplace conflict resolution to discuss the many challenges encountered in preventing, managing and resolving employment disputes in the specific context of international organizations, and to support reflection in this field through a frank exchange of knowledge and experience. Judging from the impressive attendance at the Conference – there were some 300 par- ticipants from 60 international institutions worldwide – as well as the interest generated by similar meetings organized in the past at the initiative of other organizations, particularly the World Bank, there is growing interest in opti- mizing the performance of international organizations in handling workplace disputes. The discussions during the Conference also suggest that, while orga- nizations may vary considerably in size and culture, there are common issues behind workplace conflict in international organizations, as well as common criteria for fair and effective dispute resolution. The introductory session of the Conference offered examples of best practices from two national contexts and an insight into the ILO’s research and country level work in supporting the establishment and strengthening of labour dis- pute prevention and resolution systems. The second session examined both the need and the usefulness of ensuring effective employment dispute prevention and resolution mechanisms within the specific context of international orga- nizations. The third session focused on recent examples of major reviews of internal justice