Certification
Certification Rules
Every WWEC certification operates under a published rule set: who may apply, what evidence is required, how employee experience is captured, how findings are scored, how decisions are made, and how certification is maintained, renewed, suspended or withdrawn. The rules apply equally to every applicant.
Authoritative requirements
What the WWEC Certification Rules establish.
The WWEC Certification Rules establish the rules applicable to application, assessment, certification, maintenance, use of certification status, changes, suspension, withdrawal, complaints and appeals.
Where a website summary differs from the current approved controlled certification document, the current approved controlled document shall govern.
01 — Eligibility
Who may apply, and under what conditions.
Eligibility is confirmed before an application proceeds. Where an applicant is not eligible, the reason is provided in writing.
- The applicant must be a legally constituted organisation able to enter into an agreement in its own name.
- The applicant must have been operating for the minimum period defined in the controlled certification scheme and must be able to provide evidence covering the approved assessment window.
- A declared scope must be defined — the legal entities, locations, workforce populations and functions to be certified.
- The applicant must have a workforce large enough to allow confidential employee input without compromising individual anonymity.
- The applicant must nominate an authorised representative accountable for submissions and declarations.
- The applicant must be able to provide organisational evidence for the declared scope for the applicable evidence period.
- The applicant must declare any material legal, regulatory or workplace proceedings relevant to the declared scope.
- The applicant must accept the WWEC scheme rules, including mark usage, verification, continuing-conformity and withdrawal provisions.
02 — Evidence
Evidence requirements apply throughout certification.
Applicants provide evidence against the applicable criteria and approved certification scope. The WWEC Standard & Criteria defines the governing evidence-quality and sufficiency requirements.
03 — Employee experience
Employee experience evidence is required for certification.
Employee experience evidence is required for the WWEC Women-Centred Workplace™ Certification, subject to the approved participation requirements and the separate 5-response confidentiality reporting threshold.
- Employee input is collected confidentially through the WWEC channel; the organisation does not administer, filter or edit responses.
- The minimum valid-response requirement for the eligible workforce in scope must be met, as set out by eligible-workforce band on the Employee Experience page. Insufficient participation is insufficient evidence, not a failed workplace; certification cannot be awarded while the requirement is unmet.
- All eligible employees within the scope are ordinarily invited wherever reasonably practicable; employer-selected convenience sampling is not acceptable.
- Individual responses and identifying information are never disclosed to the participating organisation.
- Results are reported in aggregate. Subgroups with fewer than 5 valid responses are not reported separately, with additional suppression where combined categories could identify respondents.
- Any evidence of coaching, pressure, incentive or retaliation relating to participation is treated as a serious matter and may result in the application being declined.
- Employee-experience results are placed alongside stated intent and documented practice in the WWEC Workplace Excellence Truth Map™.
04 — Scoring & decision
How findings become an outcome.
Defined criteria
Weighting
Alignment findings
Certification rule
Independent review
Certification Decision Panel
Certification scope
Certification applies only to the stated scope.
WWEC certification applies only to the scope stated on the certificate and public verification record. Certification must not be represented as covering an excluded parent, subsidiary, site, business unit or workforce.
Scope may include, as applicable: legal entity; location(s); business unit or function; workforce or population; other approved boundaries.
Findings
How findings are handled.
- 01
Finding identified
- 02
Finding communicated
- 03
Organisation responds or provides corrective evidence where permitted
- 04
WWEC evaluates the response
- 05
Finding closed, remains open, or is escalated under the applicable scheme
Any applicable response or closure deadline is defined in the controlled certification scheme or the decision communication. Corrective action does not guarantee certification.
Certification status
One status lifecycle.
A certificate whose validity period has ended without an effective renewal is never shown as Active.
Core public certification statuses
- Active
- Certification is currently valid for the published scope and has not been suspended, withdrawn or expired.
- Suspended
- Certification has been temporarily suspended by an authorised WWEC decision. The organisation must not represent the certification as Active.
- Withdrawn
- Certification has been formally withdrawn. It is no longer Active.
- Expired
- The certification validity period has ended without an effective renewal. It is no longer Active.
Lifecycle and administrative states
These describe where a certificate is in its lifecycle. They do not replace the four core statuses.
- Renewal Due
- The certification is approaching expiry and renewal action is due. This does not itself cancel an otherwise Active certification.
- Renewed
- A new/effective renewal decision has been completed according to the applicable scheme.
- Reinstated
- A previously suspended certification has been restored to Active status following the applicable authorised process.
Public verification always makes the current certification status unambiguous. Date calculation alone does not determine status: a certificate with a future expiry date may be Suspended or Withdrawn. Once the valid-until date passes without an effective renewal, a certificate cannot remain Active.
Grounds for suspension or withdrawal
The grounds and procedures for suspension, reinstatement and withdrawal are defined in the applicable controlled WWEC Certification Scheme.
Suspension and withdrawal decisions are subject to the appeals procedure.
Ongoing assurance
Continued conformity during the validity period.
Certification remains subject to the applicable scheme requirements and continuing-conformity controls during its 12-month validity period. WWEC does not currently operate a fixed scheduled surveillance audit programme.
Certification mark
Rules for the WWEC Women-Centred Workplace™ certification mark.
The certification mark may be used only:
- by an organisation holding applicable current certification;
- within the certification's approved scope;
- during the applicable valid certification period;
- in accordance with WWEC's controlled mark-use requirements.
The certification mark:
- Must not be altered in an unauthorised manner.
- Must not imply certification of an entity, location, business unit or workforce outside the certified scope.
- Must not imply certification of a product or service where the certification applies to a workplace/organisation.
- Must not imply accreditation, government approval or third-party endorsement that has not actually been granted.
- Must not be used in a misleading manner.
- Suspended certification
- An organisation whose certification is suspended must cease making representations that imply its certification is currently Active and must comply with the applicable WWEC suspension instructions concerning mark use.
- Withdrawn or expired certification
- The organisation must cease representing itself as currently WWEC Certified and discontinue current-certification use of the certification mark in accordance with WWEC instructions. Historical factual statements may be made only where they clearly identify the historical certification period and cannot reasonably be interpreted as current certification.
The WWEC corporate logo and WWEC certification mark are separate assets and must not be treated interchangeably. Detailed artwork specifications belong in the controlled WWEC Certification Mark Use Manual.
Commercial firewall. Purchasing WWEC membership, events, sponsorship, training, advisory or other commercial services — including participation in the WWEC Women Leaders Network™ — does not influence certification assessment, scoring, technical review or certification decisions. Commercial and relationship-management personnel do not determine certification outcomes.
05 — Validity & renewal
Certification is maintained, not simply awarded.
Certification Validity Period: 12 months. Each certificate carries a defined scope, and certification remains subject to continued conformity throughout that period. Continued certification requires renewal/re-certification under the applicable WWEC procedure and is not automatic.
Certified
Renewal due
Re-certified
- STEP 01
Renewal notice
WWEC notifies the certified organisation ahead of the expiry of the certification validity period, confirming the current scope and the renewal requirements applicable at that time.
- STEP 02
Scope confirmation
The organisation confirms whether the certified scope — entities, locations, workforce populations and functions — remains accurate, or submits a scope change request for review.
- STEP 03
Re-measurement
The Index and employee-experience input are repeated so that the renewal decision is based on current data rather than the position at first certification.
- STEP 04
Evidence refresh
Evidence is resubmitted for the current period. Superseded policies, expired records and out-of-period data are not accepted as current evidence.
- STEP 05
Improvement review
Findings and improvement conditions recorded at the previous decision are reviewed for completion, with supporting evidence of action taken.
- STEP 06
Reassessment and decision
The renewal is assessed and scored under the rules in force at the time of renewal, and independent review is followed by a WWEC Certification Decision Panel decision on the renewal outcome and scope.
Maintaining certification
Suspension & withdrawal
WWEC is a private certification scheme. A WWEC certification decision is made under the applicable WWEC Certification Scheme and does not constitute a legal, regulatory or statutory determination of compliance.
Next steps
Check eligibility and begin an application.
Mark usage
The mark carries obligations.
Use of the certification mark is bound to approved scope, validity period and the published usage rules.