Preparing for the 2004 social elections

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Belgium's next round of four-yearly 'social elections' of employee representatives on works councils and committees for prevention and protection at the workplace will take place in May 2004. This article sets out the election timetable and procedure and examines a number of changes made since the last elections in 2000 .

In 2004, social elections will be held in Belgium to elect workers’ representatives on enterprise-level information and consultation bodies, both works council s (conseils d'entreprise/ondernemingsraden, CEs/ORs) and committees for prevention and protection at the workplace (comités pour la prévention et protection au travails/comités voor preventie en bescherming op het werk, CPPTs/CPBWs). The elections occur across the private sector every four years, and the 2004 poll will be the 14th since their introduction in 1950 (for works councils). Very strict procedures regulate the way in which this large-scale operation is organised, set out in the law of 20 September 1948 concerning organisation of the economy, the law of 4 August 1996 relating to workers’ welfare in the performance of their duties and Royal Decree of 25 May 1999 relating to works councils and committees for prevention and protection at the workplace.

New rules

The most recent social elections were held in 2000 (BE0006316F), and the Minister of Employment believed that they revealed a number of shortcomings in the election procedures. In May 2001, the Minister thus requested the bipartite National Labour Council (Conseil National du Travail/Nationale Arbeidsraad, CNT/NAR) to issue an opinion on the possible solutions to these problems. In the context of its discussions on these issues, the CNT/NAR also decided to look at a series of proposals relating to the legislation governing social elections raised by representative employers’ associations and trade unions. The CNT/NAR dealt with these matters in two stages:

• the CNT/NAR first dealt with issues that required legal amendments in an opinion (No. 1413) issued on 10 July 2002. This led to new legislation adapting a number of mainly technical provisions that was published in the Belgian official journal (Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad) on 15 May 2003. For example, for the purposes of calculating the various workforce-size thresholds relevant to the social elections, researchers seconded to work in university institutions will now be counted in the workforce of the institution where they carry out their research (this applies to researchers who come under the legal and administrative remit of a number of specific research funds); and
• the CNT/NAR then focused on changes that the Minister of Employment wanted to make to some provisions of the Royal Decree of 25 May 1999, issuing an opinion (No. 1436) on the matter on 19 March 2003. For example, the Minister announced in her request for an opinion that, in the context of a wider reform of the employment-related social documents that employers must maintain, it might be necessary to use a document other than the existing 'personnel register' when calculating whether or not an enterprise has sufficient employees to be obliged to organise social elections. The CNT/NAR agreed with the Minister and stated that the new DIMONA (Déclaration Immédiate/Onmiddellijke Aangifte) system should be used for this purpose. DIMONA is an instantaneous electronic notification of the beginning and end of employment relationships. This instantaneous declaration has been mandatory on all employers in Belgium in respect of all employees since 1 January 2003. The social partners believe that enterprises will have familiarised themselves with the DIMONA sufficiently to use it in calculating workforce-size thresholds between now and the end of 2003, by which time the social elections procedure should have got under way. However, the CNT/NAR acknowledges that not all enterprises will be able to use the DIMONA system for this calculation by the end of 2003. In some sectors, the introduction of the systems has had to be deferred for technical reasons. In these sectors, it will therefore be necessary to use a system that is similar to the one currently in force. Furthermore, DIMONA is unable to count temporary agency workers - they are not declared by employment agencies, and are therefore not included by the enterprise where the threshold has to be fixed. As in previous elections, a special register will thus have to be used for temporary agency workers .

The social partners on the CNT/NAR have agreed that the 2004 social elections will be held from 6 to 19 May. The rules which will govern these elections are set out below.

Which enterprises are covered?

A committee for prevention and protection at the workplace (CPPT/CPBW) must be established in all enterprises employing an average of at least 50 workers. A works council must be established in all enterprises normally employing an average of at least 100 workers, and renewed in all enterprises that established, or should have established, one at the last elections, as long as they still normally employ an average of at least 50 workers. There is no need to conduct an election for works council members in enterprises that normally employ an average of fewer than 100 workers.

An enterprise for the purposes of the social elections legislation is defined as a private-sector undertaking engaged in industrial and commercial activities, or a not-for-profit enterprise in such fields as social services and health.

In assessing employment levels to determine if an enterprise reaches the employment threshold for holding elections, the calculation will be carried out on the basis of levels during the calendar year 2003. Temporary agency workers employed during the fourth quarter of 2003 for reasons other than replacing permanent employees must also be included.

Who can vote?

To have voting rights in the elections of employee representatives on works councils and CPPTs/CPBWs, workers must meet the following conditions: they must be workers or trainees bound to the enterprise by a contract of employment or an apprenticeship contract; and they must have completed three months’ uninterrupted service on the day of the elections. There is no nationality condition: voting rights are extended both to workers holding Belgian nationality and to nationals of all European Union countries and of other countries, as long as they have a work permit.

Voters are divided into a number of categories, for each of which there are separate electoral lists: for the election of members to CPPTs/CPBWs, these are white-collar workers, blue-collar workers and young workers (provided that, on the day of the elections, the enterprise employs at least 25 workers who are under the age of 25); and for the election of members of works councils, these are white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, young workers (provided that, on the day of the elections, the enterprise employs at least 25 workers who are under the age of 25) and managers (provided that the enterprise employs at least 15 managers).

Who can stand for election?

To stand for election to works councils and CPPTs/CPBWs, workers must meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. they must be workers employed by the enterprise;
2. they must not be part of the senior managerial staff, or be a health and safety adviser;
3. they must be at least 18 years of age, and no more than 65. Representatives of young workers must be between the ages of 16 and 25;
4. they must have six months’ service in the legal entity or production unit, or have worked for at least nine months in the legal entity or production unit during 2003. All periods spent in employment, or otherwise included in the total number of employees, count; and
5. they must fall into the employment category for which they are standing as candidates.

There is no nationality criterion.

Lists of candidates representing blue-collar, white-collar and young workers lists may only be presented by intersectoral trade union organisations that are recognised as representative. These are:

• the Federation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (Centrale Générale des Syndicats Libéraux de Belgique/Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België, CGSLB/ACLVB);
• the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV); and
• the Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV).

Lists of candidates representing managers may be presented by these three representative intersectoral trade unions, or by the organisation regarded as representative of managers - the National Confederation of Managerial Staff (Confédération Nationale des Cadres/Nationale Confederatie voor Kaderleden, CNC/NCK) - or by managers in the enterprise itself ('house' lists). In the latter case, the list must be supported by at least 10% of the enterprise’s managers.

In each list of candidates presented, the number of women and men must be proportional to the number of workers employed in the unit concerned.

How are the elections conducted?

Legally, preparations for the social elections last 150 calendar days. As the next elections are scheduled for 6-19 May 2004, the initial stages of the legal procedure must be scheduled to take place between 8 and 21 December 2003 at the latest.

Enterprises may themselves decide the date for the elections in the period between 6 and 19 May 2004. As soon as the date has been established, all the other dates in the electoral procedure automatically fall into place. According to the procedure, the day fixed for the elections is referred to as 'day Y', and the day when the notice announcing the date of the elections is published is referred to as 'day X'. This latter date must fall 90 days before the date of the elections (in other words, day Y = day X 90).

The employer must commence consultations with workers’ representatives about the electoral procedure between 8 and 21 December 2003 (day X-60) at the latest., and this must be accompanied by written information on: the definition of the enterprise (ie which subsidiaries will be involved); the proposed date for the elections; and the composition of the workforce. The employer must also send this information to the trade unions, and communicate its decisions on these matters by day X-35. This is followed by a period when complaints may be lodged with, and heard by, a labour tribunal, so that on day X (ie between 6 and 19 February 2004), the final arrangements (ie a timetable setting out times and dates) and the provisional electoral lists can be disseminated within the enterprise.

The trade unions may lodge lists of candidates between 12 and 15 March 2004, depending on the date that the elections will be held in the enterprise. Candidates are protected against dismissal for 90 days prior to the date of the elections, ie from 7 January at the earliest (assuming the elections will take place on 6 May).

The other information to be included in the timetable consists of dates when a complaint can be lodged concerning the list of candidates, and deadlines relating to such matters as labour tribunal procedures, and the possible termination of the electoral procedure in the absence of any candidates. The table below sets out the key dates in the 2004 social election timetable, which depend on the date between 6 and 19 May when the elections are to be held in a particular enterprise

Source: CSC/ACV.

Commentary

Social elections are an important matter for Belgian trade unions. Over 3,000 works councils and 6,000 committees for prevention and protection at the workplace were established or renewed at the last social elections in 2000. The results of these elections test the relative strength of the three representative intersectoral trade union organisations. In addition, this is an important democratic exercise that reflects the seriousness of the issues dealt with by the bodies being elected. The procedures may appear cumbersome, but they are a guarantee that this freedom is respected. (Catherine Delbar, IST)

Sources: Belgian Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue; CSC/ACV; SD WORX.