Controlled scheme document
WWEC Women-Centred Workplace™ Certification
This page is the authoritative summary of the flagship WWEC certification: who may apply, what must be evidenced, how the decision is taken, how long certification lasts and what a certified organisation must continue to do.
Trademark WWEC Women-Centred Workplace™ is a protected mark of the council. Use of any mark requires an active licence or written permission. Trademark & brand usage.
Validity
Certification Validity Period: 1 Year
Every WWEC certification is issued for a one-year validity period, running from the date of the council decision. There is no longer cycle and no automatic extension.
Issued
On the date of the council decision, for the confirmed scope only.
Maintained
Through continued conformity and notification of material change within 30 days.
Renewed
Only through reassessment. Renewal notification is sent 90 days before expiry.
A certificate that has expired, been suspended or been withdrawn confers no right to use any WWEC mark. Current status is always confirmed through Verify Certification.
Requirements
What must be met
All seven requirements apply. Meeting some of them does not create an entitlement to certification.
- STEP 01
1. Eligible applicant
A registered legal entity with at least ten employees in the proposed scope, able to name an authorised representative and to evidence its workplace practices for the preceding twelve months.
- STEP 02
2. Defined scope
The certificate applies only to the legal entity, locations, business units and workforce populations confirmed by WWEC. Anything outside the confirmed scope is not certified.
- STEP 03
3. Evidence across eight dimensions
Documented policy, system and practice evidence for each of the eight WWEC dimensions, current at the time of assessment and traceable to a named owner.
- STEP 04
4. Employee experience input
A completed WWEC Employee Experience Survey for the in-scope population, meeting the published response threshold. Results are reported only in aggregate.
- STEP 05
5. Assessment and scoring
Independent assessment of the evidence and survey input against the published criteria and scoring guide, performed by assessors with no conflict of interest in the applicant.
- STEP 06
6. Council decision
Certification is granted only by decision of the Womenians Workplace Excellence Council™, taken separately from the commercial relationship and recorded with reasons.
- STEP 07
7. Ongoing obligations
Certified organisations must maintain conformity, notify WWEC of material change within 30 days, use the mark only within the certified scope, and cooperate with any complaint investigation.
Decision rules
Four possible outcomes
The council records one of four outcomes with reasons. Every outcome may be appealed within 15 calendar days of the decision date.
Certified
The applicable requirements are met for the defined scope. A certificate and mark licence are issued for a one-year validity period.
Conditional
Requirements are substantially met with specified conditions to be closed within the stated period before certification is confirmed.
Deferred
The evidence or survey input is insufficient to decide. The file remains open pending the specified submissions.
Not certified
The applicable requirements are not met. The organisation may reapply after addressing the recorded gaps.
Certification cannot be bought. Fees cover assessment and the services in the selected package; the certification decision is taken independently by the Womenians Workplace Excellence Council™.