Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 social elections procedure was suspended after date X+35 (normally situated between 17 and 30 March 2020) and will be rebooted as from 23 September 2020 (new date X+36). The 2020 social elections will now be held in the period between 16 November until and including 29 November 2020.
Employee representative organisations had to file their candidate lists before the suspension of the social elections period due to COVID 19, on date X+35. All candidates mentioned on these lists are protected against dismissal.
However, in specific circumstances, f.e. when a candidate resigns, employee representative organisations can replace a candidate. These replacements can be done until X+76 and these substitutes are, of course, also protected against dismissal. Since the employer most likely has no information about who will replace a candidate, while this substitute is already protected against dismissal, this period is called the blackout period for protection against dismissal. Therefore, employers should exercise extreme caution when considering a dismissal during the blackout period, as they risk terminating the employment agreement of a protected employee without knowing it.
What’s in a name: protection against dismissal and the blackout period
The blackout period did not continue during the entire period of suspension of the social elections procedure, but ended on X+35. A new blackout period started 36 days before the new date X+36, specifically for substitutes. Thus, the blackout period for substitutes started on the new date X (which is situated between 18 and 31 August 2020) and will end on the new date X+76 (which is situated between 2 and 14 November). In order to determine the new blackout period within your company, check our calendar tool.
Of course known candidates are protected against dismissal.
