Social elections 2024: calculation of the number of workers from 1 October 2022!

The last social elections were held in 2020, so the next ones will take place, in principle and subject to official confirmation, in May 2024.

Social elections are held every four years in companies that usually employ an average of at least 50 or 100 workers.

The aim is to elect workers’ representatives to a committee for prevention and protection at work (CPPW) and a works council (WC).

This Infoflash is written on the basis of the legal provisions currently in force.

We will keep you updated as soon as we have more details, among others on the date of the elections and the procedure calendar. 

Companies concerned?

The company must be understood as a ’technical business unit’ (TBU) that has a certain economic and social independence.

In cases of ‘doubt’, the social criteria take precedence over the economic criteria.

The company is In other words not necessarily the same as the company within the meaning of a ‘legal entity’.

Social elections can also take place at another level. This is the case, for example, until proven otherwise, when multiple legal entities are suspected of forming one TBU, if it can be proven:

• that those legal entities are either part of the same economic group or are governed by the same person or by persons with economic ties between them, or have the same activity or are engaged in activities that are coordinated with one another;
• that there are elements that point to social cohesion between these legal entities, such as in particular a community of people gathered in the same buildings or in nearby buildings, a common staff management, a common staff policy, employment regulations or collective labour agreements that are common or that contain similar provisions.

Calculation of the number of workers employed?

A CPPW and a WC must respectively be established in companies that on average employ at least 50 or 100 workers during a reference period.

The following factors must be taken into account when determining the number of workers employed:

• on the one hand, the workers employed in the company (workers with an employment contract, workers with an apprenticeship contract, persons receiving professional training in the company under the supervision of the Community institutions responsible for professional training, etc.), even if they are absent due to (among others) illness or an accident;
• and, on the other hand, the temporary agency workers who were made available to the (user) company, on condition, however, that they do not replace any permanent worker, the performance of whose employment contract has been suspended.

Mind that the following are not regarded as workers ‘of their employer’:

• workers with a replacement contract entered into in accordance with the provisions of Article 11ter of the Employment Contracts Law of 3 July 1978;
• temporary agency workers.

Subject to official confirmation, the calculation is based on the following reference period:

• from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023 for the calculation of the average number of workers employed in the company; in practice, the total number of calendar days in each period starting on the date of employment and ending on the date of termination of employment communicated for each worker in the Dimona system during this reference period is divided by 365 (if the actual work schedule of a worker does not amount to 3/4 of the schedule he or she would have worked if he or she had worked full-time, the total number of calendar days is divided by 2);

• from 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023 for the calculation of the average number of temporary agency workers made available to the company (user); in practice, the total number of calendar days during which each temporary agency worker (who does not replace a permanent worker whose employment contract has been suspended) is recorded in the ‘temporary agency workers register’ (to be kept by the user company) during the reference period is divided by 92 (if the actual work schedule of a temporary agency worker does not amount to 3/4 of the time he or she would have worked if he or she had worked full-time, the total number of calendar days is divided by 2).

Do you want a count for your TBU? Do you require tailored advice or support for your social elections? Then please contact us at esv2024@partena.be.