It’s been a long time coming, but the time to vote in the 2020 social elections is finally here. Between 16 and 29 November 2020, employees in more than 6000 companies will be able to choose who will represent them in the Works Council and Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work during the coming 4 years.
Date Y (situated between 16 and 29 November 2020)
On the day of the elections - date Y - a strict playbook must be adhered to with respect to the voting itself, counting the votes and determining the elected employee representatives (and their substitutes). Once completed, an official record (“proces-verbaal”/”procès-verbal”) of the results - including the names of the elected employee representatives and their substitutes - must be drawn up. The chairman of the polling station must send the original version of the official record to the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue and copies to the employer and the representative employee organisations.
However, the actual vote doesn’t mark the end of the social elections proceedings and already in the days following date Y, some important steps must be taken.
Date Y+1 (situated between 17 and 30 November 2020)
On date Y+1, the day after the elections, the chairman of the (main) polling station must hand over sealed envelopes with the election documents to the employer. The employer is obliged to keep these documents for 25 days after the election. Moreover, the employer must hand over these documents to the labour tribunal or - court if there are any complaints.
Date Y+2 (situated between 18 November and 1 December 2020)
The second day after the elections marks the deadline for posting the results of the elections and composition of the works council and/or the committee for prevention and protection at the workplace. This document must clearly detail all employee - and employer representatives and their substitutes. The employer representatives are designated by the employer from the list of supervisory staff. Note that the employer's delegation cannot be larger than the employees' delegation.
The results of the elections must be physically posted in the same place as the official announcement of date X. Note that, if the announcement on date X was made available electronically, the statement on date Y+2 must be posted in the place where the date X announcement would have been physically posted if it wouldn’t have been made available digitally. The electoral results must remain visible until date Y+86.
