The UNOV/UNODC Staff Council has been informed about the memorandum of 4 March 2026 on Physical Office Presence from the Chef de Cabinet conveying Secretary-General's request to Heads of Entities to implement arrangements requiring office presence of at least four days per week.
The UNOV/UNODC Staff Council notes with great concern that the issuance of such a request at a time when staff are already demoralized and working under immense pressure reinforces the growing sense of arbitrariness and disenfranchisement from managerial decision-making. The decision to further reduce the telecommuting options will have a disproportionate and negative effect primarily on women, single parents and colleagues with disabilities. We are concerned that the new approach to restrict flexibility makes the Secretariat a less competitive employer, contradicts the Organization’s broader commitments on these matters, and fuels perceptions of institutional weakness and hypocrisy over adherence to stated norms and values.
The UNOV/UNODC Staff Council has sent a memo to the Secretary-General emphasizing that the SMC framework exists to ensure that matters such as flexible working arrangements are discussed in a structured and meaningful manner. We, therefore, have kindly requested him to suspend the memo on Physical Office Presence to the Heads of Entities, pending meaningful consultation with the staff unions and associations to ensure that collectively we will respond in the most strategic, fit-for-purpose, manner to the expectations from some Member States.
