Individual Contract Policy

Negotiations and clarifications

106. 
     Negotiations often come with risks. They may bring into question the fairness, transparency and integrity of the procurement processes, and undermine the confidence of the market in UNDP. This activity must always be handled properly and professionally and in accordance with UNDP policy guidance.
     
107. 
     Negotiation is not mandatory in a selection process. If everything is in proper order and clearly agreed between UNDP and the candidate, there is no need for negotiation.
     
108. 
     Negotiation in a competitive process is not to be understood or misconstrued as a means of bargaining with the candidate who has fully met the requirements of the technical and financial evaluation. Negotiation must not imply that a candidate must accept a price reduction or additional scope of work not originally required in the terms of reference as a condition for awarding a contract. It must not be used to deprive the most responsive candidate from being awarded the contract.
     
109. 
     Once the best qualified candidate has been identified, and there are items in the financial proposal that need clarification or correction, he or she may be called for a discussion. A minimum of two UNDP staff members (ideally, one from the requesting unit and the other from the procurement staff) shall take part in this process.
     
110. 
     The requesting unit shall make no commitments to the most responsive candidate prior to the award of the contract. The candidate must be informed that the result of the evaluation and negotiations remain subject to approval of the relevant procurement authority before an award can be made. The final negotiated agreement shall be formalized in a note-to-file prepared and signed by the negotiation team, and kept in the internal records of the business unit.
     

Award

111. 
     After a candidate has been selected, the contract award may be subject to further review, depending on its duration and total amount. Please refer to information on the delegation of procurement authority and its limits.
     

Direct Contracting

112. 
     Under certain circumstances, and subject to proper justification, it may be appropriate to consider a single candidate for a contract. Justification for direct contracting must be formulated in accordance with Regulation 121.05 of the UNDP Financial Rules and Regulations. In such cases, the following must be taken into consideration:
     

1. 
   Direct contracts with a value or cumulative value from US $5,000 to US $100,000 require a justification to and approval from the Resident Representative/head of the business unit, or other UNDP staff with delegated procurement authority up to such amount. They may include the Country Director, the Deputy Resident Representative Operations, the Deputy Country Director Operations, the Operations Manager, the head of the procurement unit, the chair of the Contract, Asset and Procurement Committee, or anyone who has established knowledge of UNDP policies relevant to individual contracts and procurement standards. A template has been created for this process. 
   
2. 
   Direct contracts of US $100,000 or more, depending on the delegated procurement authority of the business unit, require review and approval by the appropriate procurement review committee.
   

Engaging Government Officials, Former UN Staff and Close Relatives of UN Staff| French | English Structure Element - Relevant Policies

Engagement of Government Officials and Employees

113. 
     Government officials or employees are civil servants of UN Member States. For UNDP to engage them under an individual contract, which they will be signing in their individual capacity, the following conditions must be met:
     

1. 
   A ‘no-objection’ letter should be received from the Government employing him/her; and
   
2. 
   The individual must provide an official document from his/her employer formally certifying his or her status as being on ‘official leave without pay’ for the duration of the contract.
   

114. 
     The above requirements are also applicable to government-owned and controlled enterprises, and partially owned government entities, whether or not government ownership is of majority or minority status.
     
115. 
     UNDP recognizes that there are situations when the government entity employing the individual that UNDP wishes to engage allows its employees to take external short-term consultancy assignments, including research institutions, state-owned colleges/universities, etc. Under such circumstances, being ‘on-leave-without-pay’ is not required. They must still provide a ‘no-objection’ letter from the Government. It must state that the employer formally certifies that their employees are allowed to receive short-term consultancy assignment from another entity without having ‘on-leave-without-pay’ status, and include any conditions and restrictions on granting such permission. This document may be included in UNDP records in lieu of the ‘official leave without pay’ document.
     
116. 
     A separated and retired government official or employee is not considered a government official or employee, and as such, may be engaged without having to meet the conditions above. He/she must ensure and confirm that any national laws governing his/her retirement are observed.
     

Engagement of Former or Retired UN Staff Members

Conditions for engaging former or retired UN staff members

117. 
     Former or retired staff members may be engaged on an individual contract provided there has been a minimum break of:
     

1. 
   None, if the previous contract was a Temporary Appointment
   
2. 
   One month after the official date of separation from the United Nations, if the nature of the separation was not due to retirement
   
3. 
   Three months after the official date of retirement from the United Nations
   
4. 
   However, all of these cases are subject to all of the following conditions:
   
5. 
   The person is not applying for the position they retired or separated from;
   
6. 
   They are not applying for an assignment for which he/she provided oversight while he/she was under a staff contract;
   
7. 
   They are not applying for an assignment where they were involved in creating the terms of reference; and
   
8. 
   They did not separate from UNDP or another organization of the UN system for any of the following reasons: abandonment of post, dismissal for misconduct, non-renewal of appointment for unsatisfactory service, termination of appointment for unsatisfactory service or resignation in lieu of disciplinary action.