At a glance
- Belgian employers should prepare now for social elections expected in May 2028, pending legislative amendment.
- Organisations with at least 100 workers need a works council; 50, a prevention committee.
- Reference period: 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027; agency workers, Q2 2027 only.
- Maximising agency workers outside Q2 2027, part-time schedules below 75% and subcontracting can reduce headcount.
Belgian employers should start preparing now for the 2028 social elections, as the employee-count reference period runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.
Organisations with at least 100 workers in principle have to set up a works council. Organisations with at least 50 workers should set up a committee for prevention and protection at work.
The staff representatives for these groups are elected in social elections, which normally take place every four years.
The most recent social elections took place between 13 and 26 May 2024. So the next ones are expected to take place in May 2028. The legislation still has to be amended, as article 9 Act of 4 December 2007 Concerning the Social Elections, as it stands today, stipulates the social elections take place between 13 and 26 May 2024. Parliament should thus still approve an act updating these dates.
Article 7 Act of 4 December 2007 states the threshold of 100 workers for a works council and 50 workers for a committee for prevention and protection at work is assessed based on the number of workers in service 'during a period of four quarters starting on the first day of the sixth quarter preceding the election day'. Assuming the next social elections take place in May 2028, this means the reference period is the period between 1 October 2026 and 30 September 2027.
The reference period is different for temporary agency workers. Only temporary agency workers in the second quarter of 2027 will be considered if the elections take place in May 2028.
Temporary agency workers replacing an existing worker with a suspended employment contract are always disregarded for the threshold. But the replaced worker does count, irrespective of the reason for or the duration of the suspension. The same rule applies to workers with a replacement employment contract.
The number of workers in service is counted by dividing the number of days in the reference period the worker was in service by 365. For temporary agency workers, the number of days in service during the second quarter of 2027 is divided by 92.
If a worker's work schedule doesn’t reach 3/4 of the full-time work schedule, the number of days in service is divided by 2. A part-time worker in a 70% work schedule in service during the whole reference period only counts as half a worker in calculating the threshold.
If an employer is approaching the threshold for having to establish a works council or a committee and wants to stay under the threshold, this employer could take the following measures as of 1 October 2026:
- The reference period for the employer’s 'own' workers is 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. The reference period for temporary agency workers is on the other hand 1 April 2027 to 30 June 2027.
- In the period between 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 and the period between 1 July 2027 to 30 September 2027, an employer could make maximum use of temporary agency workers, as the threshold disregards these workers. The employer still has to comply with all conditions and procedures for using temporary agency workers.
- For the same reason, the number of workers will be lower when having as few temporary agency workers as possible in the period between 1 April 2027 to 30 June 2027. A day worked by a temporary agency worker in this period is divided by 92, whereas the same working day by an 'own' worker is divided by 365.
- The threshold will be lower when employing part-time workers with a work schedule just below 75% of the full-time working hours. A single part-time worker with a 70% work schedule in service during the full reference period counts as half a worker, whereas two part-time workers with a 35% work schedule in service during the full reference period count as 1 worker.
- Subcontractor staff are in principle disregarded, so an employer facing an increase of work during the reference period might want to subcontract work, rather than recruiting extra staff.
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