Andorra Sets 60-Day Limit for Validating Confidential Employee Election Requests

Andorra's Department of Labour can take up to 60 calendar days to validate confidential requests for employee representative elections, which must be supported by at least 10% of a company's workforce. The regulation, published in the Official Gazette (BOPA), requires checks to ensure petitioners are employees, the threshold is met, and no current representation body has a valid mandate or active election process.

Requests may be submitted confidentially, without informing the employer. Upon validation, the department informs the company and posts the election notice on its website, omitting supporters' personal details and supporting documents. If several promoters register for the same workplace, the earliest submission prevails. Notices must be filed at least 30 calendar days before the process begins, with elections starting one to three months after registration.

The rules cover understaffed candidacies, permitting lists with fewer candidates than required—as long as there are at least two—to sustain a committee. Committees function with two members; falling below that level requires fresh elections. Where relevant, candidacies must cover both electoral colleges.

Vacancies from resignations or revocations go first to the highest-voted unelected candidate from the same college. If none exists, the role passes to the top unelected candidate from the other college. Substitutes take office after Labour Department registration and serve out the full remaining term. Renunciations disqualify that candidate from the body for the mandate's duration.

Elections take place during working hours at employer-provided facilities, with non-delegable votes. Advance voting is allowed up to the day before, as decided by the electoral board. The board must display the voter and candidate lists for at least two working days and assign seats per college based on eligible voters.

The department can pause proceedings for irregularities at the point of non-compliance, either during elections or results filing. It may reject results lacking official forms, board president signatures, prior election notices, or data needed for tallying. Fixable errors allow 10 working days for corrections; unresolved or uncorrectable ones lead to denial.

Ties among candidates are broken by seniority. Electoral board ties, after matching seniority and age, are settled by worker agreement or lottery. Fixed-term workers with contracts under one year count toward representation by dividing their collective prior-year days by 183. Voters must meet age and seniority rules at voting time; candidates at nomination.