UN salary schedules: A primer

When it comes to salaries, the United Nations is as transparent as they come. It has in fact a dedicated website for information on the pay and perks of its employees in all duty stations around the globe. As we’ve reported, the United Nations pays its people well. For professional staff, the remuneration is on par with what employees from the highest-paying civil service receive, and according to the United Nations, today that is the U.S. federal government. For local hires, compensation is based on the best prevailing rates for similar work where they are posted. Read UN salaries: What you need to know to learn more. Below we’ve linked to salary scales for U.N. professional and field service staff as well as general service employees at so-called headquarter cities – Geneva, London, Madrid, Montreal, New York, Paris, Rome and Vienna. Click here to download a listing of all available U.N. salary scales, which are updated periodically. Note: The amounts given reflect annual gross pay before staff assessment, an amount that the United Nations deducts from and adds to the Tax Equalization Fund. The fund reimburses staff members when they have to pay national income taxes on their U.N. earnings. Member states that don’t levy U.N. earnings get a portion of the fund to offset certain amounts that, based on assessment, they should contribute to the U.N. regular, peacekeeping and tribunal budgets. Worldwide - Professional and higher categories, effective Jan. 1, 2012 - Field service category, effective Jan. 1, 2012 Geneva - General service category, effective April 1, 2011 - Language teacher category, effective April 1, 2011 London - General service category, effective Oct. 1, 2012 Madrid - General service category, effective April 1, 2012 - National officer category (provisional), effective April 1, 2012 Montreal - General service category, effective April 1, 2012 - National officer category (provisional), effective April 1, 2012 New York - General service category, effective March 1, 2012 - Language teacher category, effective March 1, 2012 - Public information assistant/tour coordinator/supervisor category, effective March 1, 2012 - Security service category, effective March 1, 2012 - Trades and crafts category, effective March 1, 2012 Paris - General service category (for staff recruited on or after Jan. 1, 2000), effective Oct. 1, 2011 - General service category (for staff recruited prior to Jan. 1, 2000), effective Oct. 1, 2011 Rome - General service category, effective Nov. 1, 2010 Vienna - General service category, effective Nov. 1, 2012 - Language teacher category, effective April 1, 2006