Social elections 2024: what about temporary workers?

2024 is not only the year of political elections in our country, but a lot of companies also have to hold social elections in May 2024. But when are you required to do so, and do temporary workers also have voting rights in the company where they are employed?

For which companies are social elections mandatory?

• Companies with an average employment of at least 50 employees must establish a Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPBW).

• Companies with an average employment of at least 100 employees, in addition, must also elect a works council .

To determine whether your company has reached the 50- or 100-employee limit, it looks at the average workforce over a given reference period (for 2024, this is from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023).

More detailed information can be found on the website and the digital brochure prepared by the FPS WASO (in Dutch): https://werk.belgie.be/nl/themas/sociaal-overleg/sociale-verkiezingen-2024/brochure-sociale-verkiezingen-2024

What about temporary workers?

Temporary workers count as employees at the using company (i.e., not at the temp agency).
With the 2024 social elections looming, new rules have been introduced regarding voting rights for temporary workers. From now on, temporary workers will only be able to vote at the company where they are currently employed if they meet strict seniority requirements:

• Temporary workers must have worked at least 32 actual working days at the using company in the three calendar months preceding the month in which the announcement of the election date is published.
• These 32 working days must fall within a specific reference period, which begins on Nov. 1, 2023, and ends on Jan. 31, 2024.

These 32 working days count both for periods of continuous and intermittent employment. In fact, this includes all the working days the temporary worker spent at the using company during the reference period.

It is important to emphasize that these are “actual” days of work, meaning that the temporary worker actually performed services on those days.

The law does not require temporary workers to be available at the user company on a specific day to be eligible to vote. This means that temporary workers do not have to be on location on a specific “day X” or “day Y” to retain their right to vote.

Conclusion: Temporary workers who meet these strict seniority requirements within the designated reference period are considered eligible to vote and will be able to participate in the 2024 social elections at the using company. It is essential that agency employees are aware of these new rules to ensure that they can exercise their voting rights.

Does your company qualify for social elections and employed temporary workers through Tentoo during the stated reference period? Contact us promptly to request the necessary details.