Newsflash
Social elections
Collective employment relations

On day X+35 at the latest, the candidate lists must be submitted to the employer. These lists will have to be displayed by the employer on day X+40 at the latest. The employer can file an appeal against a list before the Labour Tribunal either until day X+52 or day X+61.

The candidate lists must be submitted to the employer by the representative organisations or their mandatories or by an internal list (for management staff) on day X+35 at the latest (i.e., between 17 and 30 March 2020 depending on the election day). The submission can be made by either sending or handing over the paper version of the candidate lists to the employer. The date of sending/handing over the paper version is relevant to know whether the lists were submitted on time. The representative organisations can also submit their lists through the web application of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue. The employer would then receive a notification via e-box or by e-mail. In that case, you can consult the candidate lists via the web application.

The election procedure can be terminated in the following three cases:

  • if not a single candidate list is submitted (complete termination);
  • if no candidate list is submitted for a specific category of employees (termination for that specific category);
  • if only a single candidate list is submitted for a specific category of employees and if the number of candidates on this list is less than or equal to the number of effective mandates (termination for that specific category).

On day X+40 at the latest (i.e., between 22 March and 4 April 2020), the employer must display the candidate lists he received without making any modifications. The lists must be displayed in the same place as the announcements displayed on day X. This billposting can be replaced by electronic dissemination of the document as long as all workers can access it during their normal work hours.

Until day X+47 at the latest (i.e., between 29 March and 11 April 2020), the persons appearing on the electoral lists or their representative organisations may file a complaint with the employer. Those who want to withdraw their candidacy must also inform their employer by such deadline. On day X+48, the employer must pass on this complaint or the withdrawal of the candidacy to the organisation concerned. In case of dispute, the organisation has a period of six days (until day X+54) to modify the candidate list. On day X+56 at the latest, the employer must re-display the lists, even though they have not been modified.

In the event that a complaint was filed on day X+47, the voters, representative organisations and the employer can start judicial proceedings to challenge the candidate lists before the Labour Tribunal until day X+61 (i.e., between 12 and 25 April 2020). The tribunal must render a judgment on day X+75 at the latest. If no complaint was filed on day X+47, the employer can start judicial proceedings before the Labour Tribunal on day X+52 at the latest (i.e., between 3 and 16 April 2020). The tribunal must then render a judgment on day X+66 at the latest. You may in particular consider initiating proceedings against the candidate lists if the conditions with regard to eligibility are not met or in the event of “abusive candidacy”.

Action point

Check whether the candidates and candidate lists meet all the legal requirements and strictly follow up the dates for billposting, challenging, etc.

Do you have any questions with regard to the social elections in general? Contact us at socialelections@claeysengels.be .

Download our VerkiezingsWijzer/Guide Pratique Elections Sociales for free on our website ( Dutch French version).