What dates does the NLC propose for the 2028 social elections?
The National Labour Council (NLC) issued a unanimous opinion on 27 October 2026 regarding the upcoming social elections. It proposes that these take place from 15 to 28 May 2028. This period still needs to be included in the law of 4 December 2007 concerning social elections.
If your company usually employs on average at least 100 workers, you are generally required to establish a Company Council (CC). From 50 workers, you are generally required to establish a Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW).
Your electoral procedure revolves around two key dates: day X and day Y. Day Y is the day of the elections. Day X is exactly 90 days before day Y. The pre-electoral period begins at X-60.
Could the calculation of your workforce change?
The current thresholds are 50 workers for establishing a Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW) and 100 workers for establishing a Company Council (CC).
For the 2028 elections, the reference period for calculating the workforce runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.
The NLC supports several changes concerning temporary workers:
- 91-day divisor: a temporary worker counted for the entire second quarter of 2027 would represent one unit in the calculation (91 days out of 91), not 91 days out of 92. The NLC proposes this change because this quarter has 91 days.
- No double counting: if a person is first counted as a temporary worker, then taken on as a permanent worker by the same user during the reference period, they would only be counted once — not once in each category.
The NLC also proposes a special rule in case of transfer of undertaking after the end of the reference period but before the first day X-35. Example: if the transfer takes place on 15 October 2027, the specific period would start the following day and end the day before the first X-35. The employer would have to wait until the end of this period to calculate the threshold; according to the proposal, the electoral calendar would then be adjusted and the ballot could take place outside the usual period.
Will you be able to organise electronic voting more easily?
The NLC proposes to extend the possibilities of electronic voting to companies that do not yet have a CC, a CPPW, or a trade union delegation. This option could be especially useful if you have to organise social elections for the first time.
However, you must meet four conditions:
- Obtain the agreement of the three representative workers’ organisations and, for the CC election, of the National Confederation of Managers
- Organise the electronic vote within your company, not remotely
- Provide a physical polling station
- Organise adequate training so that members of the polling stations, witnesses and voters can familiarise themselves with the software.
The NLC also proposes a simplification regarding the composition of the polling station. If you use electronic voting, on-site or remotely, it should have two assessors instead of four.
What other formalities could change?
Several proposed changes aim to make monitoring the procedure easier and clarify your obligations:
- The X-60 form would include a contact point in your company.
- The convocation of voters should indicate the opening hours of the polling station.
- Some electoral documents would be further digitised via the FPS Employment web application. If you cannot use it, you could contact the FPS, which would upload the forms for you.
- The minutes template should make it easier to communicate participation data, notably by distinguishing temporary workers from other workers.
- The election minutes would be kept for four mandates of the body.
The NLC also proposes to specify that the newly elected body can only be installed after the appeal period has expired. Until then, the current body would continue to operate.
The NLC wishes to keep the current rule on the timing of sending convocations: it does not propose allowing, by agreement within the company, the closing of electoral lists before day X+77.
Entry into force?
Opinion no. 2,502 was adopted on 27 October 2026. It proposes a period for the elections but does not itself amend the legislation. As of 2 November 2026, FPS Employment indicates that the opinion still needs to be transposed into a bill, then follow the usual legislative process. The measures and schedule may therefore still change. We will keep you informed on Lex4You.
What does Securex do for you?
As with previous social elections, we will support our clients.
For more information on social elections, you can contact Consulting legal at consultinglegal@securex.be.
A web page will soon be available, and you will also be able to follow the different stages of the social elections procedure on Lex4You.
