Social Elections 2024

Every 4 years, it is time again: companies with at least 50 employees (for the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work) and with at least 100 employees (for the Works Council) must organise social elections for the designation of the employees’ representatives in these bodies.

The next social elections will take place between 13 and 26 May 2024 (depending on the chosen election date). However, for employers, work starts as early as mid-December 2023 at the start of a 150-day procedure that precedes the election date and during which action is expected from employers on a regular basis.

Download your own customised calendar below, which includes the different steps in the election procedure, and discover how ALTIUS’ Employment team can assist you during this hectic and intense period to make sure all goes smoothly.

Your Personal Calendar

HOW CAN ALTIUS HELP YOU?

If you are organising social elections for the first time, then you will undoubtedly have many questions.

But also if this is your third or fourth time, you would probably like to know what has changed compared to the last elections and to receive quick and efficient advice when you have to deal with unforeseen situations or discussions with your trade unions. Or perhaps it is not yet clear to your company whether it will reach the thresholds and will have to organise social elections and you would like to have clarity about this point.

How can our Employment team help you?

NEWSFLASHES

We will keep you informed of new developments and give you a short heads-up at every milestone date in the election calendar via our Social Elections Newsflashes. Are you interested in receiving such newsflashes, please register here.

HOTLINE

Are you unsure whether a particular employee meets the conditions for applying as a candidate? Does the trade union want to replace a candidate on the candidates list and are you wondering if this is possible? Or do you have questions about electronic voting or the composition of the polling stations?

For these and other small ‘ad hoc’ questions in the course of the election procedure, ALTIUS Social Elections Hotline Team is ready to give you a quick and ‘to the point’ answer to your questions, either by telephone or via our special social elections e-mail address. We also offer a special fee formula for this type of ‘hotline support’.

Interested? Then contact us and find out about our terms and conditions.

STRATEGIC QUESTIONS AND REPRESENTATION IN COURT

If your questions are of a more strategic nature and/or if you need assistance in litigating before the labour tribunals, then our team of experts is at your service.

If your questions are of a more strategic nature and/or if you need assistance in litigating before the labour tribunals, then our team of experts is at your service.

We are happy to provide you with professional advice on the strategic decisions you may need to make in the run-up to the social elections, such as:

– the demarcation of the different ‘technical business units’ (this is the level at which social elections should be organised)
– which employees will be regarded as high level executives or as managerial personnel
– does your company meet the threshold for organising social elections and how must this be calculated?
– the impact of contemplated restructurings, mergers, demergers and acquisitions.

In view of the importance of the elections, it goes without saying that during each social elections procedure many employers are engaged in disputes that need to be settled before the labour tribunals. Our Employment Team has important expertise in conducting legal proceedings concerning the social elections and is happy to assist you.

Employers can choose the election date between 13 and 26 May 2024. As such, it is useful to look at which election calendar corresponds to each of the possible election dates, and which will allow you to select the election date that is most convenient for your company. Click on the icon below and compose your personalised calendar with the main dates in the election procedure.

Your Personal Calendar

ABOUT THE ALTIUS ‘TBU TOOL’

The Works Council (WC) and the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW) must be established at the level of the so-called ‘technical business unit’ (‘TBU’). The TBU does not necessarily coincide with the legal entity. If different legal entities show a sufficient level of economic and social dependence, then they can form one single TBU and so only one WC and/or CPPW must be established.

Do the test below and discover if the legal entities in your group are likely to form one TBU or, on the contrary, are sufficiently independent from an economic and a social point of view to form separate TBUs.

TBU Tool

CONSULT THE FAQ

In this section we have collected a number of frequently asked questions for you. Check this webpage regularly for new added questions!

FAQ

UPCOMING WEBINAR

ALTIUS’ Employment Team is giving a webinar about the 2024 social elections on 12 September 2023 (Dutch session) and on 14 September 2023 (French session), both from 12.30 pm until 2 pm. During this webinar, we will provide a brief and comprehensive overview of the important steps in the Social Elections’ procedure and will focus on some of the “dos and don’ts”, both during the (preparation of the) election process and on the election day itself, as well as on some practical issues.

What’s new for the 2024 elections?

The number of changes in the procedure for the 2024 social elections is limited when compared to the 2020 edition. We have listed for you the most important developments. Find out more by clicking on the topics below.

Date of the 2024 elections

Ease of electronic voting

Since the 2020 elections, it is possible for employees to vote electronically from their usual workstation (their own laptop or PC) instead of physically going to the polling station, provided that the Works Council, the CPPW or, in its absence, the employer in agreement with the trade union delegation, has allowed this option at the latest by day X, i.e. the day of the posting of the notice announcing the date of the elections (between 13 and 26 February 2024).

Therefore, companies that do not yet have a Works Council, CPPW or a trade union delegation cannot organise such electronic voting.

While in 2020 electronic voting still had to happen via a carrier connected to the company’s secure network, it will be sufficient, as from the 2024 elections, if there is an end-to-end encrypted network connection and voter authentication is guaranteed.

The agreement on electronic voting with the Works Council, CPPW or trade union delegation must include the special conditions specific to the company to ensure the secrecy of the vote and to avoid any influence on voting behaviour during voting. It must also define ‘the usual workstation’ (e.g. a teleworker’s home office) taking into account the specific employment situations in the company, and the arrangements for the proper functioning of the polling station (with particular attention to the method of identifying voters).

For electronic voting by temporary agency workers with the user, the temporary work agency will have to provide, at the user’s request, the temporary agency worker’s national registration number and e-mail address at the latest by day X+5 to the extent that such data is necessary for voter authentication.

Developments based on gender

1. From now on, the candidate lists should indicate for each candidate whether that person is a male, a female or an X-candidate based on the choice passed on by the candidate to the union.

2. The employer already had the obligation to communicate the gender ratio between male and female candidates and elected employee representatives to the Works Council, or, in its absence, to the trade union delegation, within 6 months of the posting of the election results. In addition, the employer must now also inform the Works Council or the trade union delegation about the gender ratio between the male and female employer representatives selected by the employer to sit on the Works Council and the CPPW, and this is in relation to the total number of male and female executive functions in the company.
This information must also be provided by the employer to the Federal Public Service Employment, which will use it for statistical purposes.

Electronic convocation of voters

In principle, the convocation of voters happens by physically handing the convocation letter to the workers at the company premises.
Workers who are absent on the day of handover must receive their convocation letter by registered mail or by any other means if the employer can provide proof of dispatch and receipt by the worker. However, for the 2024 elections, it will also be possible to send the convocation by e-mail provided that certain conditions are met:

– at the latest on day X, a unanimous agreement must be entered into in this respect with the Works Council or the CPPW or, in their absence, with the trade union delegation. This means that electronic convocation will not be possible if the company does not yet have consultative bodies;
– this will only be possible for voters with a professional e-mail address from the employer or user (in the case of temporary agency workers) that they can access at their usual place of work via a digital tool (PC) provided by the employer (or user);
– the employer (or user) must provide proof of both the sending and receipt of the convocation to vote by the worker.

New rules for temporary agency workers

For the 2024 elections, a few new rules apply regarding temporary agency workers.

1. The most important one is the adjustment of the seniority requirement applying for temporary agency workers to be allowed to vote at the user.

Since the 2020 elections, temporary agency workers have the right to vote at the user if they meet a certain seniority (i.e. length of service) requirement.
While in 2020 this was a complex ‘double’ seniority condition with two reference periods, it has now been simplified for the 2024 elections.
From now on, temporary agency workers can vote if they have effectively worked with the user for 32 days, whether consecutive or not, in the period from 1 November 2023 to 31 January 2024.

As was the case in 2020, temporary agency workers still cannot file their candidacy for election.

2. Moreover, there are a few new obligations on temporary work agencies, which must now transmit the following information at the user’s request:

– data relating to temporary agency workers who satisfy the seniority condition to vote, such as: the name, status, date of the first working day with the user, number of working days actually worked with the user within the reference period, language, etc.
– in case there is an agreement on electronic voting and if such data is necessary for the authentication of voters: the e-mail address and national registration number of the temporary agency workers
– in case an alternative means of convocation of voters is used (e.g. by e-mail instead of handing over the voting letter): the e-mail address of the temporary agency workers if the user has not made an e-mail address available to the latter.

3. From now on, the list of voters must also indicate the capacity of temporary agency workers.

Clarifications of a mere administrative nature

1. As always, some of the template documents to be used by the employer, have been updated by the Employment Ministry for these elections.

Moreover, a new mandatory form has been created to communicate the election results and composition of the Works Council and/or CPPW within the company.

2. When sending the voting ballot by post, the outer envelope has to include the name of the voter. To avoid any confusion, as from the 2024 elections, it is now also required to include the voter’s first name here.

Self-correction in the case of a material error in minutes with election results

Also, as from the 2024 elections it will be possible to immediately correct any material error in the minutes containing the election results without first needing to go to court to rectify such a situation.

To this end, an agreement between the employer and all the unions that have presented candidates will be required.

This possibility to self-correct is not an option if it concerns a rectification of an error that has an impact on the ranking or special dismissal protection of the candidates (whether elected or non-elected).

Resumption of the election procedure after suspension due to strike or temporary unemployment

If the company faces a strike involving the majority of the blue-collar or white-collar workers or when at least 25% of the blue-collar or white-collar workers are benefitting from the system of temporary unemployment, then the election procedure can be suspended at the request of a union.

New for the 2024 elections is that the employer can now enter into an agreement with the unions on the date of resumption of the procedure. In the absence of any agreement, the procedure will be resumed on the date the conditions for suspension are no longer met.

SOCIAL ELECTIONS CALENDAR

Click here to compose your personalised calendar with the main dates in the election procedure.

Here available!

TBU TOOL

Do the test and discover if the legal entities in your group are likely to form one TBU or, on the contrary, are sufficiently independent from an economic and a social point of view to form separate TBUs.

Here available!

FAQ

In this section we have collected a number of frequently asked questions for you. Check this web page regularly for new added questions!

Consult the FAQ!

NEWSFLASHES

Stay tuned with the ALTIUS newsflashes on social elections!

We will keep you informed on new developments and give you a short heads-up at every milestone date in the election calendar via our Social elections newsflashes.

Are you interested in receiving such newsflashes, then please register here.

You can also consult all newsflashes on this webpage.

I want to stay tuned!

Newsflashes

January 10, 2024

Employers, be aware of the “hidden protection period” kick-off!

The “hidden protection period” is one of the most remarkable features of the social elections process. The hidden protection period is the period during which candidates already benefit from the specific dismissal protection, even though the candidate lists are only being disclosed to the employer 65 days later.

December 20, 2023

X–60: What are your obligations?

In this newsflash, we list your obligations as employer on day x-60 of the Social Elections 2024.

September 25, 2023

WEBINAR VIDEO | Help! The social elections 2024 are close now… so be fully prepared!

During this webinar, Philippe De Wulf , Esther Soetens, Thomas Gellaerts and Valérie Schouteden fill you in on the “ins and outs” of the social elections 2024.