On day X (between 13 and 26 February 2024, depending on the date of the elections within your company) lots of information with regard to the organisation of the social elections needs to be prepared. Companies with a works council and/or a CPPW should moreover discuss this information within these bodies in advance.
On day X, the works council, the committee for prevention and protection at work (CPPW) or, if such bodies do not exist yet, the employer, must inform the workers about:
- the date and schedule of the elections;
- the address and the denomination of the technical unit of exploitation;
- the number of mandates per body and per category of workers : blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, young workers, executives (only for the works council);
- the temporary electoral lists or the places where they can be consulted. These lists with the persons that will be able to vote need to be issued by category and contain all employees and temporary agency workers that fulfil the electoral requirements (in an alphabetical order and with a number);
- the list of the management staff with an indication of the denomination and the content of the functions, or the places where it can be consulted;
- the list of the executives or the places where it can be consulted (only for the works council);
- the dates of the electoral proceedings (calendar of the different steps);
- the person or service in charge of sending or distributing the electoral notice;
- the decision to proceed with an electronic voting system or not.
When the elections will take place on several consecutive days, day X will be determined on the basis of the first election day (meaning your first day Y).
The announcement (which explicitly mentions the date – attesting the posting date) needs to be posted. This can be done electronically, provided that all employees have access to it during their normal work hours. If you were to put the electoral lists at the disposal of your workforce in an electronic way, this should be done through a sealed platform or on an intranet/sharepoint which is secured by the employer and to which only employees of the company have access. Sending the electoral lists by e-mail to the employees should be excluded, unless if this would concern an e-mail with a link to such secured platform or intranet/sharepoint.
A copy of this document has to be sent to the representative trade unions. This can be sent by post or by uploading the information on the web application of the Federal Public Service for employment, work and social consultation. When there is already a works council or a CPPW or a trade union (composed of the three representative unions) in place, the electoral lists do not need to be added.
When there is not yet a works council/CPPW in place, a copy of the above information needs to be communicated to the trade union delegation (if any).
TIP - Electronic convocation
If you wish to proceed with an electronic convocation of voters (by day X+80 at the latest), you will need the unanimous agreement of the Works Council and/or the CPPW (or in their absence with the trade union delegation). The digital convocation can be used for all or part of the workforce. There are also some specific conditions attached to such digital convocation. Either way, if you wish to apply this, you must ensure that you have an agreement on this by day X. For reasons of proof, it is highly recommended to confirm this in a written and dated agreement.
Key message
Check whether you have fully prepared the announcement for day X. In this regard, preliminary consultation of the works council and/or the CPPW is required.
Separately, if you wish to use digital convocation, you must have agreed on this by Day X at the latest.
