Social Elections: Formalities to be respected after day Y

You are almost there! Voting in the social elections within companies take place as of yesterday, Monday 9 May 2016. Once the voting is closed, certain formalities still need to be completed. That is, unless the results of your elections are contested.

Once the voting has closed, you, as an employer, still have the following obligations:

• Posting of the results on day Y+2 (between 11 and 24 May): the employer posts a notice in the company premises with the results of the elections and the composition of the Works Council (WC) and/or the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW), as well as the employer’s delegates and their substitutes.
• Retaining the notices posted until day Y+17 (between 26 May and 8 June). All the messages that have been posted in the company in the course of the process should stay posted until this date. However, there are two exceptions: the results as posted on Y+2 should remain posted until Y+86 (3 16 August), as well as a new notice indicating where the previous forms can be consulted. Upon request, the employees can then consult those documents until Y+86.
• Retaining the election documents until day Y+25 (3 16 June). The employer receives these documents on day Y+1 in a sealed envelope, which he must keep until day Y+25, unless an appeal is lodged against the results of the election (see below), in which case he must deliver this envelope to the tribunal.
• First meeting of the WC/CPPW at the latest on day Y+45 (between 23 June and 6 July). A first meeting of the newly elected WC and/or CPPW must be organised before this date. During this first meeting the internal regulations  which deal with the modalities of the functioning of the body will be adopted. A meeting in which the basic information is communicated must also be organised in time. If a judicial appeal is lodged, however, the former WC and/or the former CPPW continue to operate until the new composition becomes definitive.
• From a legal point of view, an appeal may be lodged against, among others, the declared results of the election and against the employer’s delegates until no later than the 13th day after the posting of the results (i.e., day Y+15, between 24 May and 6 June). Also, in case of, for instance, a material (mathematical) error in the results of the elections, proceedings must be started before the labour tribunal. The labour tribunal will deliver a decision on day Y+69. Within 15 days after the notification of this decision, an appeal can be lodged against this decision before the labour court (delivering a decision on day Y+144). If the election process is declared partially or entirely null and void, the partial or the entire process must be restarted within three months after the judgment has become final.

> Action point
Display the last notices and organise a first meeting of the WC and/or CPPW within the required time limit. Prepare the internal regulations that will be proposed to the WC and/or CPPW during the first meeting.
 
> We organise training on the competences and functioning of the Works Council and the CPPW, as well as the rights and obligations of the employee representatives. If you wish to know more about our training, please send an e-mail to socialelections@claeysengels.be. Also use this address to send any other questions regarding the social elections.