PUBLISHED CRITERIA. EXPLAINED.
Family-Friendly Employer Certification Methodology
How a confidential employee survey and a family-focused HR assessment determine a USIQ Family-Friendly Employer result. See how answers become points, which minimums apply and how employee data is protected.
USIQ United States Institute for Quality
Criteria version 2026-1.3 · Dated October 29, 2026
Source: Family Friendly Employer Certification Criteria, 72 pages
TWO COMPONENTS. ONE ASSESSMENT.100
Employee survey
Maximum points
100
HR Assessment
Maximum points
200
A high total alone is not enough. Both components, all seven general survey dimensions, the two family questions, the three core HR areas, the data requirements and the exclusion criteria also apply. Read the full criteria.
42
Scored survey items,
2 of them on family
39
Family-focused HR
criteria in 8 areas
04
Certification tiers
with published minimums
24
months of validity
subject to conditions
A private
employer-funded
program
Employers pay by credit card when ordering. If no award is issued, USIQ keeps only the $990 survey fee and refunds the rest. With the Basic package, that is $2,000 back. The fee is fixed before the assessment and does not vary with the tier.
Payment does not buy a favorable result. USIQ is a private provider; certification is not government accreditation.
Funding and safeguards
01 / THE SHORT ANSWER
What is USIQ Family-Friendly Employer certification?
USIQ Family-Friendly Employer is a private, employer-funded certification of how well an employer enables its workforce to combine work with family life and caregiving. It rests on a confidential employee survey and a documented HR assessment of family-related policies, benefits and day-to-day practice. Each part contributes up to 100 points. The highest tier for which the employer meets every requirement is awarded: Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
“Family” is meant broadly: children, whether biological, adopted, foster or stepchildren, a spouse or partner, parents, other relatives and people in an equally close relationship. No employee has to have family duties or disclose them, and family-related practices must not disadvantage colleagues without such duties. The result describes the covered workforce and assessment period. It is not a ranking against other employers.
Employee experience
Every employee is invited. Half of the survey points come from two direct questions on balance and working-time flexibility, half from seven dimensions of general employer quality.
Family-focused HR practices
39 criteria, each rated separately for offer, access and implementation. The lowest of the three ratings counts.
What can the result establish?
Certification identifies a defined employer and scope that met the published criteria at assessment. It does not guarantee any individual employee’s experience, future conduct or compliance with leave and anti-discrimination law. It is not a legal opinion, an assurance audit or a governmental designation.
The criteria are research-informed. They build on work–family research on policy availability, supportive culture and family-supportive supervision, and they combine what employees report with what the employer can document. The composite score and the tiers have not yet been empirically validated, and the two family questions are a short indicator, not a validated work–family scale. Because the survey does not collect family status, the result cannot show how parents or caregivers rate the employer compared with colleagues.
02 / SCORING & TIERS
Certification scores and tier thresholds
The total is the employee survey score plus the HR assessment score. To receive a tier, the employer must meet all five scoring requirements below, as well as the data requirements and the exclusion criteria.
Minimum requirements for each certification tier
| TIER | TOTAL / 200 | EACH COMPONENT / 100 | EVERY GENERAL SURVEY DIMENSION | FAMILY ITEMS 6 AND 7, EACH | CORE AREAS C, D, E, EACH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certified | 120 | 50 | 40% | 50% | 40% |
| Silver | 140 | 60 | 50% | 60% | 50% |
| Gold | 160 | 70 | 60% | 70% | 60% |
| Platinum | 180 | 80 | 70% | 80% | 70% |
General dimension percentages use only the general questions and their maximum points; the two family questions are left out of this hurdle and have their own minimums. For items 6 and 7, 50% corresponds to a mean of 3.5 on the six-point scale, 60% to 4.0, 70% to 4.5 and 80% to 5.0. All figures are minimums, not closed ranges or percentile rankings.
A score of 180 is not automatically Platinum.
Platinum also requires at least 80 points in each component, at least 70% in every general dimension, at least 80% on each family question and at least 70% in each of the core Areas C, D and E. A strong HR assessment cannot make up for a weak survey, and generous written policies cannot offset a workforce that says it cannot combine work and family. If a minimum is missed, the next lower tier meeting all conditions is awarded.
Fictional worked example: an employee survey score of 78 plus an HR score of 86 gives 164 points. Every general dimension reaches at least 62%. The family questions reach 74% and 68%, and Area D reaches 58%. Total, components and general dimensions would meet Gold, but Gold requires 70% on each family question and 60% in each core area. The result is Silver, assuming all other requirements are met. This simulated example is not an actual employer result.
Scores are calculated at full precision. Display rounding does not change eligibility: 139.99 points does not meet the 140-point Silver threshold, and a family-item mean of 3.49 does not meet 3.5. If the requirements for Certified are not met, no certification is issued.
03 / ELIGIBILITY & PARTICIPATION
Who can apply — and who takes part?
Employers with at least 10 employees working in the United States may apply, regardless of industry. The accepted Order identifies the legal employer, all covered US locations, the workforce and the assessment dates. Staffing agencies are assessed only for their internal staff, not for workers placed with clients.
All employees on the payroll during the survey period are invited, including part-time staff, paid apprentices and interns, and employees on leave who choose to take part. People on parental, family or medical leave are invited through a channel that does not ask them to work, and their manager may not send them reminders. The employer distributes the approved invitation, so no list of employee contacts has to be handed over. It may not select favorable respondents, ask for particular answers, offer response-linked rewards, run group completion sessions, identify or retaliate against anyone, or suppress criticism.
Minimum survey participation
The survey is open for 14 calendar days, with one possible 7-day extension. Both the minimum response rate and the minimum number of responses must be met. Counts resulting from the response-rate calculation are rounded up.
| COVERED US HEADCOUNT | MINIMUM RESPONSE RATE | MINIMUM RESPONSES |
|---|---|---|
| 10–39 | 50% | 5 |
| 40–249 | 30% | 12 |
| 250–999 | 25% | 63 |
| 1,000 or more | 20% | 200 |
For example, 39 employees require at least 20 responses, because 50% × 39 is rounded up. The table’s fixed count does not replace the response-rate requirement.
A valid survey counts once per eligible employee and contains at least one valid scored answer. If participation remains insufficient after the extension, no certification result is issued. The employer may repeat the survey once within six months at no additional assessment charge; this does not postpone the refund of any amount above the survey fee. Response thresholds are operational minimums. Meeting them does not prove that the respondents represent the whole workforce.
04 / COMPONENT ONE
Employee survey dimensions and scoring
The survey has 46 standard questions, of which 42 are scored. Questions 6 and 7 ask directly whether employees can balance work with their personal life and family or caregiving responsibilities, and whether they have the flexibility in working hours they need. They carry 25 points each. The other 40 scored questions carry 1.25 points each. Questions 15, 16, 45 and 46 receive no points but are reviewed in every assessment. Optional employer questions and demographic answers are never scored.
How an answer becomes a score
Scored statements use a six-point scale from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 6 (Strongly agree). For each item, the mean of the valid answers is normalized to 0–1 using (mean − 1) ÷ 5; item 40 uses a 0–10 likelihood scale and is normalized as mean ÷ 10. The family subscore is 25 × item 6 + 25 × item 7, the general subscore is the sum of 1.25 × each of the other 40 items, and both add up to the survey score. Item 40 is not an employee Net Promoter Score. Family and general subscores are reported separately, in points and as percentages.
Illustrative calculation: mean 4.8 gives (4.8 − 1) ÷ 5 = 0.76
Family item: 0.76 × 25 = 19.00 points · General item: 0.76 × 1.25 = 0.95 points
For reverse-coded exports, the coded mean is first converted using 7 − coded mean. Scored wording and weights cannot be changed. Accessible or translated versions require approval and equivalent meaning.
Skipped answers and insufficient data
Every question is voluntary. Skipped answers and “Not applicable / Prefer not to answer” are left out of the item mean. Employees without family or caregiving duties answer question 6 with regard to their personal life or select Not applicable; the employer must not encourage either choice. A general item with fewer than five valid answers is excluded, and its weight goes only to the other eligible general items in the same dimension. At least half of the general items in each dimension, rounded up, must remain eligible.
The family questions are stricter. Their weights cannot be moved, and each needs at least five valid answers from at least half of the participating employees. If either falls short, no certification is issued until a compliant repeat survey is completed. Missing answers are never counted as favorable.
The open questions and the question about change since joining are read in every assessment. Themes are coded without identifying anyone and checked by a second reviewer. Positive comments cannot add points, and silence is not a favorable finding.
05 / COMPONENT TWO
HR assessment criteria and evidence levels
The HR assessment reviews 39 criteria across eight areas, all of them about family-friendliness. An authorized employer representative completes a digital questionnaire, and each criterion is rated separately for offer (what the policy provides), access (who can actually use it) and implementation (whether it works in practice). Any rating above 1 needs documentary support. Employers submit redacted documents and aggregates only, never individual pregnancy, family, health, leave or accommodation records.
| HR ASSESSMENT AREA | CRITERIA | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| A · Family-conscious work organization and scheduling | 5 | 12 |
| B · Leadership commitment and family-aware management | 5 | 12 |
| C · Flexible work and working-time models (core area) | 6 | 15 |
| D · Pregnancy, parental leave and return to work (core area) | 6 | 15 |
| E · Childcare, caregiving and family benefits (core area) | 6 | 18 |
| F · Fairness and nondiscrimination for parents and caregivers | 5 | 12 |
| G · Family-friendly employer branding and candidate experience | 3 | 8 |
| H · Life events, family emergencies and transitions | 3 | 8 |
Digital questionnaire
The employer answers all 39 criteria, adds a 12-month indicator schedule, for example on schedule notice and request response times, and describes how shift and on-site roles can use each option.
Public-source review
A reviewer checks careers pages, job postings, benefit descriptions, review platforms, press coverage and court or agency records, and keeps allegations, settlements and final findings apart. A review-platform post alone does not establish a violation.
AI-assisted consistency check
Approved tools may compare redacted materials with aggregate survey results, for example a stated flexible-work policy with the result of question 7. AI outputs are leads, not evidence; reviewers verify every material flag.
Evidence requests
Evidence must cover the different locations, schedules and presence requirements, not just a convenient desk-based group. The employer has 10 business days to respond. Missing evidence caps the affected rating at 1.
Scoring and second review
A human reviewer rates offer, access and implementation for every criterion. A second reviewer rates all criteria in core Areas C, D and E and a random 20% of the others before seeing the first ratings. USIQ retains the final decision.
Six rating levels for offer, access and implementation
| LEVEL | LABEL | ASSESSMENT BASIS |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Absent | Reliable evidence shows that the offer, access or implementation does not exist. An allegation or a zero event count alone is not enough. |
| 1 | Unsubstantiated | A plan or assertion without sufficient documentary support, or requested evidence is missing. |
| 2 | Partial | Material requirements are incomplete, reach is restricted or operation has substantial gaps. |
| 3 | Established | A current, documented arrangement meets the main requirements and works for the principal groups; monitoring is still limited. |
| 4 | Substantially corroborated | Requirements, eligibility and current-period operation are substantially evidenced across relevant work groups, with minor gaps. |
| 5 | Fully corroborated within scope | All requirements are documented and current, practical use is corroborated and published coverage rules are met. No material gap remains. |
“Fully corroborated” describes documentary corroboration within this assessment. It is not an exhaustive audit or a legal finding.
HR AREA SCORING
Criterion level = lowest of offer, access and implementation · Area score = (average criterion level ÷ 5) × area points
Illustrative calculation: offer 5, access 2, implementation 4 gives level 2, not 3.67
Average level 4 in a 15-point area: (4 ÷ 5) × 15 = 12 points
Criteria are equally weighted within each area. “Not applicable” requires an objective written reason and USIQ approval for the criterion as a whole; a missing legal obligation is never a reason. At least half the criteria in each area, rounded up, must remain applicable. Points cannot move between areas.
Size matters for the form, not for the evidence. A 25-person company does not need an on-site daycare; childcare subsidies, reserved places at a licensed provider or a backup-care contract can serve the same purpose. Where roles cannot be done remotely, predictable scheduling, shift swaps, part-time models and compressed schedules can meet Area C.
Benefits count only above the legal baseline.
For benefit criteria such as paid parental leave, lactation support, childcare, caregiving and family benefits, only provision beyond what the law already requires earns credit. Full credit also requires access for at least 80% of the covered workforce on published eligibility terms; below 80%, the criterion is capped at level 2. Legal baselines depend on size: the federal Family and Medical Leave Act generally applies to private employers with 50 or more employees, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and Title VII to those with 15 or more. Where a law does not apply, the baseline is zero and a voluntary practice is assessed on its merits.
06 / DECISIONS & FUNDING
Funding and decision safeguards
Review safeguards
Scoring and final decisions must be separated from sales for the same employer. Reviewers must disclose conflicts, step aside when their impartiality is impaired and receive no pay that depends on an award or a tier. USIQ will not certify itself or an entity it controls.
USIQ and partners involved in the assessment or decision may not provide paid HR or benefits consulting to that employer during the assessment or certification period. Once a year, a person without any sales or award-linked financial interest reviews award and refusal files, reviewer overrides, complaints and conflict controls.
The commercial relationship
The package fee is agreed before work begins, is paid by credit card when the order is placed and does not vary by tier. It includes a survey fee of $990 for running the employee survey and a full tabulated survey report. No separate seal license fee is charged during the certification period.
If no award is issued, USIQ keeps only the survey fee and refunds every amount above $990 within 14 calendar days. With a package fee of $2,990, for example, $2,000 is refunded. The employer keeps the tabulated survey results for internal use, and no other fees arise. Because almost the entire fee depends on an award, there is a commercial incentive that procedural separation cannot fully remove; the annual impartiality review exists for that reason.
Refunds and available aggregate results are due within 14 calendar days after the final assessment decision or closure, as applicable. Where responses are insufficient, reporting explains the limitations; if there are no usable responses, a written explanation is supplied.
Scores do not override exclusion criteria
Whatever the score, USIQ may refuse, defer, suspend, downgrade or revoke certification when reliable evidence shows a material failure in the 24 months before the assessment or during the certification period. Grounds include a final court or agency finding, or an enforceable consent decree, on pregnancy or sex discrimination, discrimination against parents or caregivers, interference with family or medical leave, pregnancy accommodation, lactation break time and space, wage-and-hour, safety, harassment or retaliation. A no-admission settlement is not treated as an admission.
Further grounds are a pattern of independently corroborated misconduct, in particular adverse treatment because of pregnancy, parental leave or caregiving, as well as survey manipulation, retaliation connected with the assessment and materially misleading information, for example describing a benefit as available to all when only a small group can use it. Allegations, anonymous criticism, a pending action or an employer’s silence do not by themselves establish a ground. Before a final adverse action, USIQ gives written grounds, a summary of the material evidence and at least 14 calendar days to respond.
AI assists; people score and decide
Approved tools may help flag inconsistencies in redacted, organization-level materials. AI does not assign scores, decide certification, profile individual workers, infer protected traits or family status, or make employment recommendations. Individual survey responses, identifiable comments, personnel records and sensitive data must not enter these AI systems.
07 / PRIVACY & PROTECTION
Employee privacy and data protection
Employers receive protected aggregates only, never individual answers, identifiable participation data or verbatim comments. No subgroup or item-level subgroup result is released with fewer than five valid responses, and further suppression is used where totals, overlapping groups or small locations could reveal someone.
Family-related information is particularly sensitive. Neither the survey nor the HR assessment asks about an employee’s pregnancy, family status, number or age of children, caregiving situation, health or leave reasons. If such details appear in a comment by chance, they are restricted and redacted or deleted. The program does not promise absolute anonymity.
Participation remains voluntary
Employees may respond privately and skip any question. Employers may not demand screenshots or proof of answers, and they may not retaliate against participants or nonparticipants.
Restricted data use
Individual survey data may not be sold, shared for targeted advertising or used to train general-purpose AI models.
Retention limits
- Invitation contact files and linkable distribution tokens: deleted within 30 days after survey closure, unless a shorter period applies.
- Raw responses: deleted or irreversibly deidentified within 90 days after the initial decision or completion of a timely appeal. If no decision is issued, the deadline is 90 days after termination or documented closure of an abandoned assessment; the earliest applicable deletion deadline controls.
- Deidentified aggregate scoring and decision records: may be retained for 36 months after assessment.
- Isolated backups: overwritten or deleted within 90 additional days, excluded from ordinary use, and deleted again if restored.
Earlier legal deletion duties may apply. Documented legal obligations or specific legal holds may require limited, isolated retention. Employees can use the privacy and reporting contacts in their survey notice. Reporter identity is restricted to those with a need to know and is not disclosed to the employer without authorization, except where legally required or lawfully necessary to address a serious imminent threat. Legally compelled disclosures remain governed by applicable law.
08 / VALIDITY & VERIFICATION
Certificate validity & verification
Certification lasts 24 months from issue, subject to ongoing conditions. At month 12 the employer must report material changes in writing; reducing or withdrawing a policy or benefit assessed in Areas C, D or E always counts as one. This update is not a full reassessment.
Every certificate has a unique ID and a working USIQ verification link. The verification page shows the covered employer and locations, the tier, the assessment period, the exact issue and expiration dates, the methodology version and the current status. A year shown on seal artwork does not extend the expiration date.
The seal artwork carries the wording “Based on Employee Survey & HR Assessment”. Its stars name the tier only: four stars for Certified, four stars and a plus sign for Silver, five stars for Gold, five stars and a plus sign for Platinum. They are not a separate rating or a ranking against other employers.
Renewal requires a new assessment.
A new accepted Order and a full reassessment under the then-applicable criteria are required. There is no automatic renewal, recurring charge or continued right to use an expired seal.
09 / QUESTIONS & COMPLAINTS
Questions about the methodology
Methodology governance
USIQ reviews the criteria every year, including changes in federal, state and local family-related law that affect the legal baselines, and again after the first 100 Family-Friendly Employer assessments. Material changes are published at least six months in advance for future Orders and renewals. Accepted Orders and issued certifications remain under their agreed version, except for changes strictly required by law and communicated with reasons.
USIQ also publishes an annual methodology report with actual tier counts and data limitations, along with clearly fictional worked examples for each tier.
10 / CRITERIA & RESOURCES
Certification criteria and supporting documents
This page is an accessible summary of the published methodology. The accepted Order and the applicable Certification Criteria govern the assessment. The current version is 2026-1.3, dated October 29, 2026.
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Content owner: Quality Standardization and Certification LLC, under the registered USIQ United States Institute for Quality brand.