Duties of International Employees

The special covenants made by international organizations, and the internal regulations applied within those organizations define the duties and obligations of international employees, regardless of their professional grade within the organization. These duties include:

  • Acting with integrity, impartiality and complete independence, and not receiving directives from their countries, the headquarters country, or from any other party.
  • Maintaining the professional secrets of the organization, dedicating all their time and services to the international organization, and working to achieve its goals.
  • Not accepting any external work during their duty within the international organization without having permission from it.
  • Refraining from any behavior that could lower his value as international employee, and refraining from any behavior that could discredit their reputation and the reputation of the international organization which they work for.

International Employee Rights

There is, in contrast, a set of rights granted to international employees. the most important rights include:

  • Not prejudicing their international capacity for the duration of their work at the organization by member states.
  • International employees can express their opinions and political thoughts within certain limits. International employees have the right to form unions to defend their rights, and can form their own international federations.
  • All financial allocations that international employees receive like salaries, bonuses, social insurance, pensions, and vacations are not subject to any tax.
  • In case one of their rights provided within the constitution of the international organization has been violated, international employees enjoy full administrative protection, and that is through filling grievances or administrative petitions to the organization they are working for.
  • In case one of their rights has unlawfully been violated, international employees enjoy full judicial immunity and receive compensation from international administrative courts, which are competent to rule on claims to annul administrative decisions.

Immunities and Privileges of International Employees

International employees, depending on their position within the international organization, have a set of immunities and privileges during the period of their work within the organization, whether the work is permanent or temporary. These immunities and privileges include:

  • Enjoying judicial immunity, and that is toward all their actions, sayings and decisions formally taken within their profession at the organization. Other than that, they will be judicially responsible.
  • Enjoying tax exemptions; regarding salaries and rewards they get.
  • Enjoying (along with their families) the same facilities as diplomatic personnel in times of international crisis.
  • Freedom of residence and movement.
  • As for the junior administrative employees, they do not enjoy all the immunities except to the extent stipulated in the executive regulations of the international organization, and to the extent that helps them carry out their work.