Certification
Appeals & Complaints
WWEC operates a defined, impartial procedure for appeals against certification decisions and for complaints about WWEC activities, assessor conduct or the use of the WWEC Women-Centred Workplace mark. Commercial interests shall not determine the outcome of any appeal or complaint.
Who can appeal
Eligibility to raise an appeal or a complaint.
Appeals
Complaints
What can be appealed
Decisions within the scope of the appeals procedure.
- A decision to decline or defer a certification application.
- A certification decision, including the certification level, band or scope awarded.
- An assessment finding, score or evidence conclusion that materially affects the decision.
- A decision to suspend, withdraw or reduce the scope of an existing certification.
- A decision relating to the permitted use of the WWEC Women-Centred Workplace mark.
- A decision on the eligibility of a previously submitted appeal or complaint.
Matters outside scope include commercial terms and fees, requests to alter findings without new evidence, and disputes between an organisation and its own employees, which remain the responsibility of the employer.
Submission
How and when to submit.
Appeal submission period
Complaint submission
Procedure
From acknowledgement to closure.
Every appeal and complaint follows the same controlled sequence, and each stage is documented and retained.
- STEP 01
Acknowledgement
WWEC acknowledges receipt of the appeal or complaint in writing and assigns a reference for tracking.
- STEP 02
Eligibility review
WWEC confirms that the submitting party is eligible, that the matter falls within scope, and that the submission period has been met. Where a submission is not eligible, the reason is provided in writing.
- STEP 03
Conflict-of-interest controls
Personnel involved in the original assessment, technical review or certification decision are excluded from the appeal review. Reviewers declare conflicts before assignment and are reassigned where a material conflict exists.
- STEP 04
Investigation / review
The assigned reviewer examines the assessment record, evidence, findings, scoring and decision rationale, and may request additional information from the submitting party or the assessment team.
- STEP 05
Decision
The reviewer determines whether the original decision is upheld, amended, or set aside for reassessment, and records the rationale against the applicable scheme requirements.
- STEP 06
Communication of decision
The outcome and its rationale are communicated in writing to the submitting party, together with any further recourse available under the scheme.
- STEP 07
Corrective action where applicable
Where the review identifies a process, methodology, assessor or scheme weakness, corrective action is raised, assigned an owner and tracked to completion.
- STEP 08
Closure
The matter is formally closed once the decision has been communicated and any corrective action has been verified. The full record is retained under the WWEC records schedule.
Confidentiality
Information is handled under controlled access.
- Appeal and complaint records are treated as confidential and accessed only by personnel with a defined role in the review.
- Individual employee responses and identifying information are never disclosed to the participating organisation.
- Where a complaint is raised by an individual, WWEC will not disclose their identity without consent unless required by law.
- Evidence provided during a review is used only for the purposes of that review and retained under the WWEC records schedule.
WWEC is a private certification scheme. An appeal or complaint decision is made under the applicable WWEC Certification Scheme and does not constitute a legal, regulatory or statutory determination.
Raise a matter
Contact WWEC to submit an appeal or complaint.
Appeals
A route to challenge a decision.
Appeals are handled through a defined process, separated from the original assessment and decision activity.