Two years after the 2024 social elections: lessons to carry into 2028
Two years ago, from 13 to 26 May 2024, Belgian companies held their social elections. Hindsight now lets us draw the real lessons, the ones that matter for preparing 2028. Not generalities, but what the 2024 edition actually taught. Here are five.
Lesson 1: the vote is almost never the problem
This is the clearest, and most reassuring, finding. Whether the ballot is paper or electronic, the vote itself goes smoothly in the vast majority of cases. The difficulties recounted afterwards almost never concern "the technology" or "the ballot box". They concern everything around and before the vote.
Lesson 2: deadlines are always underestimated
The procedure runs backwards from polling day, and every step has a mandatory date. In 2024, many organisers discovered "along the way" the number of intermediate deadlines, submitting lists, postings, objections, appointing witnesses, and spent evenings recounting working days. The lesson: set a clear reverse timeline from the start, not as you go.
Lesson 3: TBU scoping is prepared in calm
The classic mistake of 2024: reasoning from the legal org chart rather than the reality of the work. Companies that in fact shared management and premises were first treated separately, then challenged, and the scoping had to be revised under pressure. The technical business unit is mapped calmly a year ahead, not in a rush.
Lesson 4: internal communication makes or breaks turnout
Where electronic voting "stalled" in 2024, it was not the technology, it was communication. Workers did not know when they would receive their credentials, or what to do with them. And the figures confirm it: turnout fell (around 60%, down on 2020). The lesson is twofold: treat communication as a project in its own right, and do not count on the voting channel alone to mobilise.
Lesson 5: transparency with unions defuses tension
A final, human lesson. Relations with the workers' representatives went well on one condition: transparency. Sharing sensitive information early and fully (voter lists, TBU scoping, management staff) defused most of the tension. Conversely, the slightest suspicion of withheld information created distrust.
What 2024 tells those preparing 2028
If we had to sum up two years of hindsight into three priorities for 2026-2027:
- map the TBU early, before the procedure even starts;
- treat internal communication as a project, with a reminder calendar;
- decide the voting channel early for each population (online, kiosk, paper).
With these three points framed upstream, the rest of the procedure almost runs itself.
In short
Two years after May 2024, the lessons are clear: the vote is almost never the problem; it is underestimated deadlines, TBU scoping done too late, and rushed communication that cost dearly. Turnout falls by default, and only organisation lifts it. For 2028, the advantage will go to companies that start early and frame these three priorities.
For a first-hand account of the 2024 edition, read Interview: an HR director looks back on the 2024 social elections. And if you want to put these lessons into practice for 2028, let's talk.
