Roster Expiration under the New Staff Selection Policy

21 August 2025
alt text is missing

The new staff selection policy (ST/AI/2025/2) was issued on 1 August 2025. The revised policy includes a new section on roster management and a fundamentally new concept of roster expiration timelines that might affect you directly.

What is new on roster expiration and discontinuation?

  • The roster expiration period starts with the date of being placed on a roster.
  • It is four years for men and six years for women.
  • Staff will retain roster membership for the positions they currently hold or retain a lien against.
  • Staff who are separated due to resignation, termination as a result of abolition of post, or nonrenewal will maintain their roster membership for four or six years from the date of separation.
  • Any roster memberships held by staff that are dating back four or more years (for men) and six or more years (for women) would no longer be valid and retroactively discontinued on a rolling basis as of 1 October 2025.

What is the impact on current roster memberships?
Management had planned for years to introduce expiration dates for rosters, despite in 2021 waiving all roster expiration dates to be consistent with the staff selection policy in force, ST/AI/2010/3. By 2023, management again claimed that the “sheer number” of rostered candidates required discontinuing existing roster memberships. They claimed it was impossible to manage the data, with all rosters at roughly 60,000 members, which included staff in their current posts.

We strongly disagreed with the management proposal and lack of rationale and still do. Additionally, we raised concerns about the retroactive application of the new policy, and about the inclusion of a blanket provision that differentiates between genders without a timeframe or clear targets.

Why are rosters being discontinued in the UN80 context?
We are deeply concerned about the impact of removing roster memberships from staff given the current crises. At this year’s Staff-Management Committee Meeting, all unions reiterated the request for management not to proceed with the implementation of roster expirations.

We argued that at a time of downsizing and workforce reductions, retaining roster memberships, including lower-level ones, is crucial to safeguarding staff employment prospects.

We have also argued that it would be in the interest of the Organization to be able to quickly re-employ qualified and experienced staff if funding situations improved. The administration refused the request and declined to delay issuance of the new staff selection policy until the financial situation of the Organization improved.

What can you do now?

  • Please check your Inspira page and the section “My Roster Memberships”.
  • For each roster membership that you might have, take note of the “Membership Start Date” and what the expected expiration date will be based on the 4/6 year timeline, as of 1 October 2025.
  • You have the option of submitting a ‘management evaluation request’ to contest roster discontinuation.

If you have questions, concerns, or would like to better understand your options regarding these changes to roster management, we recommend that you contact the UNOV/UNODC Staff Council and the Office of Staff Legal Assistance (OSLA).

Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Staff Council if you need further information or assistance. We are here to support you!