All candidates who are selected for a Secretariat staff position and maintain a contractual relationship with a government, regardless of the level they are selected for, shall be recruited on secondment from their government unless they provide evidence that they have resigned and that their resignation was accepted by the government employer indicating the effective date of the resignation. All active-service military or police officers selected for seconded posts, receiving headquarters or mission appointments serve on secondment from their governments.
A secondment from a Member State is a recruitment of an individual serving with a government to serve in an entity of the Secretariat for a limited period. The individual is appointed, paid by and subject to the Staff Regulations and Rules of the UN, but retains the right to return employment, advancement and pension rights in the releasing government upon separation from service with the United Nations.
The agreement to be recruited on secondment should be obtained from the Permanent Mission to the United Nations through a Note Verbale prior to the initial secondment of an individual, as well as for any extension of appointment. As per ST/SGB/2016/9, since being on a leave arrangement from an employer other than the UN may constitute a conflict of interest, any leave arrangement from government service while working for the UN should be addressed in a tripartite secondment agreement between the UN, the government and the staff member providing the terms of and conditions of such a secondment agreement.
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