The Thirty-first Session of the Advisory Committee on Post Adjustment Questions

At this session, which was attended by representatives of many organizations and staff unions, the Committee dealt with a range of technical issues pertaining to the next round of place-to-place surveys expected to be launched in 2010, including:

- proposals and recommendations regarding the list of items and specifications;
- the modus operandi for the implementation of the cost-of-living measurement methodology based on real-time price comparisons with New York;
- revised survey questionnaires;
- procedures and guidelines for data collection at headquarters duty stations; and
- the results of the testing of strategies for improving staff participation in cost-of-living surveys.

At the request of the Commission, the Committee also reviewed:

- the structure of the 2008 report of an external consulting company's study of the cost-of-living differential between New York and Washington, D.C.; and
- the effects of local currency fluctuations on staff remuneration in field duty stations.

Under "Other Business", the Committee considered :

- an information packet for Human Resource Managers containing explanatory notes on the post adjustment system;
- a framework for closer cooperation between the ICSC secretariat and Eurostat/IOS; and
- a note from the IAEA on the evolution of net take-home pay for professional staff serving in Euro-denominated European duty stations.

Posted on 1 February 2009