15.5 Employee benefits

A CO typically develops its own set of employee benefits based on local labour law, an understanding of benefits applied by local international NGOs and guidance from the Lead Member Human Resources Unit. In the context of an emergency, only employees with employment contracts of six months or longer should receive annual leave, sick leave and/or termination benefits.

All employees, regardless of their contract, must be eligible for medical benefits. In countries that do not have socialised health plans, each employee should receive a fixed amount per month to cover any medical expenses. Benchmarking with other local international NGOs and UN agencies working in the region will help determine an appropriate amount.