Social elections 2020: Act published!

The Act governing the organisation of the next social elections was published in the Belgian Official Gazette of 30 April 2019.

This is the Act of 4 April 2019, which entered into force on 30 April 2019.

Reminder! Companies (in the sense of a technical business unit) that usually employ at least 50 or 100 employees on average during the reference period, with a view to electing employees' representatives for a committee for prevention and protection at work (CPPW) and a works council (WC), must organise social elections.

The main amendments introduced by the Act of 4 April 2019 concern the following points.

Date of the social elections

The social elections will take place between 11 May and 24 May 2020.

Calculation of the number of employees

Their total staff is calculated over the following reference period:

• from 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019 for the calculation of the average number of employees employed in the company; in practice, the total number of calendar days in each period beginning on the employment start date and ending on the employment end date registered for each employee in the Dimona system during this reference period is divided by 365 (if the actual work schedule is not 3/4 of the work schedule that he would have worked full-time, the total number of calendar days is divided by 2);
• from 1 April 2019 to 30 June 2019 for the calculation of the average number of temporary agency workers posted to the user company; in practice, the total number of calendar days during which each temporary agency worker (who does not replace a permanent employee whose contract of employment has been suspended) is recorded in the 'personnel register for temporary agency workers’ (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 is not 3/4 of the time he would have worked if he had worked full-time, the total number of calendar days is divided by 2).

Also consult the Infoflash published on 3 April 2019 to find out which persons are included in the calculation of the total staff.

Exemption from keeping a personnel register for temporary agency workers

The user company is exempted from keeping a personnel register for temporary agency workers if the WC establishes, no later than 30 May 2019 and by means of a unanimous declaration (included in the minutes of a meeting), that the threshold of 100 employees has been exceeded.

Voting rights for temporary agency workers

Temporary agency workers can participate in the election of staff representatives in the WC and/or the CPPW of the user company, provided that they meet certain conditions, such as a minimum period of employment in the user company at certain times.

Other adaptations

The Act of 4 April 2019 also lays down:

• the digitalization of certain steps in the procedure;
• a clarification of the period during which the results of the elections and the composition of the WC/CPPW must be posted;
• the obligation for the employer, after each social election, to provide the WC or, in the absence thereof, the trade union delegation with an overview with regard to the ratio between the female and male candidates on the final lists and the ratio between the female and male elected members of the WC and the CPPW;
• etc.

To be continued...

Do you want to know the number of employees you are employing? Contact Legal Partners via Legalpartners@partena.be (paying service).

Source: Act of 04 April 2019 amending the Act of 4 December 2007 on social elections, the Act of 20 September 1948 on the organization of the business industry and the Act of 4 August 1996 on the well-being of workers in the performance of their work, Belgian Official Gazette 30 April 2019.