Organising elections for the first time — what should you pay attention to?

The moment has finally arrived: your organisation is getting a Works Council!  Perhaps it’s your company, perhaps you are the director or responsible for HR, or maybe you are an employee. In any case, it has become your task to organise Works Council elections for the very first time.

How do you actually do that? Where do you start? What should you pay attention to, and what must you absolutely not forget? How much budget will you need? Who should be involved?

No worries — ORvox is here to help. We support you from the very beginning and also provide guidance to the newly elected Works Council.

In any case, start with the following steps:

1. Prepare a draft Works Council regulation.  You can find an example on the website of the Sociaal Economische Raad (SER).
2. Identify which employees are eligible to vote and which are eligible to stand as candidates.
3. Choose an election date and communicate it within your organisation:  to the director, to all employees, and to the trade unions.Pro tip: schedule the election date at least 13 weeks in advance (just like planning a wedding — starting early is half the work!).
4. Create an account in ORvox and let the tool do the work for you, including generating a complete planning timeline.
5. Schedule an introductory training session for the new Works Council so they can get off to a strong start.

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