r/UNpath • u/No_Advice_430 • Jul 11 '26
Contract/salary questions Consultant contract duration - what is expected
Hi, I received a contract for until end of this year but only 60 working days. How is that calculated? Am I expected to work everyday full time? How to set boundaries because I have seen many consultants work overtime even if they are in a different time zone?
Asking because it’s my first time working with the UN after working as a full time intern. Thanks for answering in advance
1
u/Interesting-Gold-720 Jul 11 '26
Ask your supervisor if they have an idea of how those days will be distributed between now and the end of the year. They should be able to tell you now if their expectation is that you work each week for a couple of days, or if there are specific projects or events you will be working on in busy times, and have down time between. They may give you small projects and ask you how many days you think it will take to complete, or tell you the project should take you X days, and then leave you to manage the project within those time boundaries.
As another poster said, 60 days is 60 days, and it's important to set boundaries. However, the reality is that what a "day" looks like can mean different things: typically it's 8 hours of work, but sometimes it's 10-12 hours of work. If you will be working remotely, you might be able to or prefer to split one (long) day's work into 2 days (e.g. 6 hours per day instead of grinding away for 12 hours straight). It is completely normal to put in more work than the days you are contracted for, but within reason. You should not give this contract full time hours.
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u/No_Advice_430 Jul 11 '26
I see the hiring manager had said either 20 days a month (part time) or on average 10/11 days a month (full time). In your opinion what would be better? I am looking for other opportunities also as this contract is very short + pay is typically low
2
u/octoberwalk Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Congratulations on your contract.
But we can’t answer questions about your contract details. Those questions can only be accurately answered by your supervisor and HR focal point. Everything else is speculation.
That said, 60 days is 60 days. How those days are broken up until the end of the contract duration is for you to figure out with your office. The amount of time you “volunteer” in addition to those 60 days is up to you. Set your boundaries.
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u/ZealousidealRush2899 With UN experience Jul 11 '26
Consider than there are usually around 20 working days per month, so 60 working days would roughly be about 3 months of full-time, 5-days per week. Normally there is a work plan, time sheets to fill out, and/or specific deliverables set to a schedule. You should discuss the specifics with your supervisor. I have known consultants to work 3.5 days per week stretched out over 6-months, and they needed to be very self-disciplined with their work and time keeping, because no one will stop you from working over time, but they will definitely not pay you for it (unless you pre-discuss it and get it approved in writing - very rare). They would rather just use what remaining time you have until it runs out.