Occasional Recuperational Break
Occasional Recuperational Break (ORB) is an entitlement for United Nations staff serving in hardship locations. It is similar to the "Rest and Recuperation" (R&R) mechanism offered by some specialized United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme and some other international organizations.
Legal grounds
The specific and detailed provisions on ORB are contained in an administrative instruction.[1] However, since the United Nations is not allowed to introduce any entitlement inconsistent with those approved by the General Assembly, the legal bases for the instruction are contained in the staff rules, which are indeed approved by the General Assembly.[2]
Under such legislation, ORB therefore exists for eligible SMs in compliance with and under the staff rules, and has to be understood in the context of rule 205.3 on “Special Leave” as a period of Special Leave with Full Pay (SLWFP), granted under rule 205.3 (a) (i), which states that “In exceptional cases, the Secretary-General may, at his or her initiative, place an individual on special leave with full pay if he or she considers such leave to be in the interest of the Organization”.
Within this scope, the United Nations has thus introduced ORB, defined as “a five-day special leave with full pay … away from the mission area”, whereby "mission area" means "country" except in special cases. These provisions are granted in the interest of the Organization, i.e. “in order to protect … the health and well-being [of SMs], and to ensure optimal work performance…”.
Practice
The entitlement to ORB arises for staff of the United Nations serving in hardship locations, and its frequency varies depending on the location, for example:
- In Iraq, every four weeks.
- In Darfur and Afghanistan, every six weeks.
- In Khartoum, every eight weeks.
- In N'djamena and other places of lower hardship, every twelve weeks.
This results in a situation where staff are often outside the country on ORB, in addition to their usual entitlement to annual leave (30 working days per year), as well as any official travel.
Criticism
Entitlements vary widely across the United Nations system, that is to say, between the Secretariat and agencies. But furthermore, the ORB entitlement also varies within Secretariat entities. For example, while staff of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations don't receive any money towards ORB travel, the staff of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs receive a sum towards the cost of the ticket to visit their chosen ORB location, but not higher than the cost of travel to a nearby location approved for ORB travel.
There are strong currents within the system, to harmonize the ORB as well as other entitlements.