50 or 100 employees: must your company hold social elections in 2028?
It is the first question any company asks: "are we concerned?" The answer comes down to two thresholds, 50 and 100 workers, but the real trap is not the threshold itself: it is how you count the headcount. Here is how the calculation works, and a decision tree to settle your case.
The two thresholds
The basic rule is simple:
- From 50 workers, the company must hold elections for a Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW).
- From 100 workers, it must additionally hold elections for a Works Council (WC).
So a company of 120 people has two votes (WC + CPPW); a company of 70 has just one (CPPW); a company of 40 has none.
But those figures, 50 and 100, are not read off today's org chart. They depend on a precise calculation.
The real issue: how you count
Headcount is not measured by the number of people present on a Monday morning. It is calculated on an average employment over a reference period, in equivalents, across all contract types. Three elements count, and each can tip the result:
- All contracts: permanent, fixed-term, replacement contracts, everything enters the calculation, not just the "permanent" staff.
- Part-time: part-time workers count, under the applicable conversion rules.
- Temp workers: temp workers made available are counted in the user company's headcount, following the reference-period rules. A company that relies heavily on temp work can cross a threshold it thought it avoided.
The classic mistake: "we're 46 on permanent contracts, we're not concerned." Once fixed-term contracts, part-timers and temp workers are properly counted over the reference period, that same company can exceed 50, and owe a CPPW.
An often-forgotten point: the threshold is counted per TBU
The calculation is not done per company, but per technical business unit (TBU). One company can contain several TBUs; several companies can form only one. It is the TBU that triggers (or not) the obligation. For that split, read What is a "technical business unit" (TBU)? Explained with real examples.
The decision tree: must you hold elections in 2028?
Follow the steps, per TBU:
- Calculate the average headcount over the reference period, including fixed-term, part-time and temp workers (not just the permanent staff present today).
- Under 50? → No social elections. Representation, if any, goes through the union delegation.
- Between 50 and 99? → You must hold elections for the CPPW.
- 100 or more? → You must hold elections for the CPPW and the Works Council.
And in any case where you are near a threshold: do the calculation early, because it governs the whole rest of the procedure, which starts on day X-60 (late 2027).
And below 50?
Below the threshold of 50, no WC or CPPW, so no social elections. But that does not mean no representation: the union delegation, set up under sector collective agreements, may exist and take over certain tasks. The elections threshold and the union-delegation threshold are two distinct things.
In short
Two thresholds: 50 for the CPPW, 100 to add the Works Council, counted per TBU. But everything turns on the headcount calculation: average employment over a reference period, across all contract types, temp workers and part-timers included. Many companies believe they are out of scope and discover the opposite once the calculation is done. Do it early.
To place this obligation in the full timeline, read Social elections 2028: the countdown starts. And if you are unsure of your headcount calculation or your TBU split, let's talk.
