FAMILY FRIENDLY EMPLOYER CERTIFICATION

Family Friendly Employer Certification: Show That You Support Working Families

Your employees tell us in a confidential survey whether they can combine work with family and caregiving. Your HR practices are checked against 39 family-focused criteria. If you qualify, you get the Family Friendly Employer seal and a public verification page that candidates can check.

For employers with 10 or more U.S. employees

From $2,990, one-time for 24 months

No seal? You pay only the $990 survey fee

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FAMILY FRIENDLY EMPLOYER

Why Become a Family Friendly Employer?

Working parents and caregivers look closely at how an employer handles schedules, leave and the moments when family comes first. Saying you are family-friendly is easy. Showing it is harder. In March 2026, only 49% of private-industry workers in the U.S. had access to paid family and medical leave through their employer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If your workplace does more, the Family Friendly Employer seal lets you prove it.

Certification has two parts, each worth up to 100 points:

  • Confidential employee survey: every employee is invited, including part-time staff and employees on leave. Half of the survey points come from two direct questions: whether people can balance work with family or caregiving, and whether they have the flexibility in working hours they need. The other half covers seven dimensions of general employer quality.
  • Family-focused HR assessment: 39 criteria in eight areas, from flexible work and parental leave to childcare, caregiving support and fairness for parents. Each criterion is rated for offer, access and implementation, and the lowest of the three counts. USIQ can request evidence, and a second reviewer checks the result.

Minimums apply in both parts, so strong written policies cannot hide a workforce that struggles to combine work and family. The four levels are Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum, from 120 to 180 of 200 points. How every point is earned is explained in the certification methodology.

Built for small and mid-sized companies: open to any employer with at least 10 employees in the United States, in any state and any industry.

RECOGNITION FOR YOUR COMPANY. CREDIBILITY YOU CAN USE.

Make Your Family Friendly Employer Certification Visible

Parents and caregivers often research an employer’s flexibility and leave before they apply. A Family Friendly Employer seal on your careers page, in job ads and on LinkedIn gives them an answer they can verify in one click.

Every seal links to a public verification page with your level, the covered locations and the exact dates. Nobody has to take your word for it.

Our marketing packages take it further. Depending on the package, you get a company landing page that presents your certification and your family-supportive policies in one place, such as flexible scheduling, parental leave and caregiver benefits. Social media posts and a press release with distribution are available, too.

FAMILY FRIENDLY EMPLOYER PACKAGE
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Not a Checklist: Your Employees Confirm It

Many family-friendly programs rely on what an employer reports about its own policies. The Family Friendly Employer seal also asks the people who use them. A generous leave policy only counts if employees can actually take it.

Rated three ways: every HR criterion is scored for offer, access and implementation, and the lowest score counts.

Your employees decide: all employees are invited, and groups with fewer than five responses are never shown.

No intrusive questions: nobody is asked about pregnancy, family status or caregiving situation.

Two reviewers: USIQ checks the evidence, and a second reviewer confirms every result.

The seal names your level, your company and the validity period, and it links to a public verification page. Candidates can see what was measured and how, which makes the seal more useful in recruiting than a claim you make yourself.

Family Friendly Employer Certification Levels

Every level rests on the same two parts: a confidential employee survey and a family-focused HR assessment, each worth up to 100 points. The higher your total, the higher your level.

Family Friendly Employer Certified seal

Certified

Certified recognizes employers that meet USIQ’s baseline requirements for family-friendly work, in both employee feedback and HR assessment.

Minimum overall score

120 /200 Points

At least 50 points per part

Family Friendly Employer Silver seal

Silver

Silver requires a higher assessment score and stronger employee-reported family-friendly compatibility, recognizing the next level of achievement.

Minimum overall score

140 /200 Points

At least 60 points per part

Family Friendly Employer Gold seal

Gold

Gold reflects a stronger assessment result and higher minimums for family compatibility, flexible work, parental leave, and caregiving support.

Minimum overall score

160 /200 Points

At least 70 points per part

Family Friendly Employer Platinum seal

Platinum

Platinum is USIQ’s highest Family Friendly Employer tier, recognizing employers that meet the most demanding score and minimum requirements.

Minimum overall score

180 /200 Points

At least 80 points per part

Certification also requires minimum scores in both assessment components and each survey dimension.

View the assessment criteria for full details.

Your Roadmap to Becoming a Family Friendly Employer

Four steps. On your side, it mostly means sharing one survey invitation and answering 39 questions online.

01

Step 1: Apply and order

Choose your package and confirm the legal employer and the U.S. locations to be covered (at least 10 U.S. employees). Your order also records who handles the data and who your privacy and security contacts are.

02

Step 2: Employee survey

All employees are invited to a confidential online survey that stays open for 14 days. You distribute the approved invitation, so no list of employee contacts has to be handed over. Individual answers are never shown to your company.

03

Step 3: HR assessment

A company representative answers the 39 family-focused HR criteria online. USIQ may request supporting evidence and checks it with human research and an AI-assisted consistency review. A second reviewer checks the result.

04

Step 4: Decision and results

You receive your evaluation and, if you reach the required scores, your level, digital seal, certificate and public verification page, valid for 24 months. If certification is not awarded, USIQ keeps the $990 survey fee and refunds the rest of the package price.

What Sets the Family Friendly Employer Seal Apart

PUBLISHED CRITERIA

You can read what is measured and how it is scored before you apply. No black box.

EVERY EMPLOYEE INVITED

Not a small sample: the confidential survey goes to your whole workforce, so no group is left out of the invitation.

DATA TO IMPROVE

Your family score and your general employer-quality score are reported separately, in clear Excel tables, so you can see where to focus.

PUBLIC VERIFICATION

Every seal links to a verification page showing the level, the covered employer and locations, the exact dates and the methodology version.

RESEARCH-BASED METHOD

Built on work–family research on policies, supportive culture and supervision, with the limits of the evidence stated openly.

SEAL AND CERTIFICATE

If you are certified, you receive a digital seal and a certificate with a unique ID for your career page and recruiting materials, valid for 24 months.

Family Friendly Employer Certification: Prices and Packages

One fixed price covers 24 months, with no separate license fee for the seal.

Basic

Get certified

$ 2990

one-time

Survey, assessment and Excel evaluation

Digital seal, certificate and verification page

Basic Plus

With your own landing page

$ 3990

one-time

Survey, assessment and Excel evaluation

Digital seal, certificate and verification page

Company landing page

Standard

With social media and a press release

$ 4990

one-time

Survey, assessment and Excel evaluation

Digital seal, certificate and verification page

Company landing page

Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram posts

Press release

Premium

With press release distribution

$ 5990

one-time

Survey, assessment and Excel evaluation

Digital seal, certificate and verification page

Company landing page

Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram posts

Press release

Press release distribution

Every package includes a $990 survey fee. If no seal is awarded, you keep the survey results and we refund everything else within 14 calendar days. With the Basic package, that means $2,000 back.

More Information and Certification Criteria

Read how the certification works and exactly how it is scored, before you decide.

Family Friendly Employer flyer

PDF · OVERVIEW FOR HR LEADERS

Family Friendly Employer at a Glance

A short overview for HR leaders and executives: what sets the method apart, the four levels, what is measured, how the process works, what you receive and which packages are available.

Family Friendly Employer certification criteria

PDF · CERTIFICATION CRITERIA 2026

Family Friendly Employer Certification Criteria

The complete rules behind the seal: how the employee survey and the 39 HR criteria are scored, the thresholds for each level, validity and renewal, data protection and the license terms.

Read the certification methodology or our free guide on how to become a more family-friendly employer (PDF).

FAQ About the Family Friendly Employer Certificate

It is a USIQ certification for employers that make it possible to combine work with family life and caregiving. “Family” is meant broadly and includes children, partners, parents and other relatives. The seal shows the level an employer reached against published criteria. It is not a ranking against other employers and does not promise any individual employee a particular experience.

Both are separate USIQ certifications with the same structure: a confidential employee survey and an HR assessment, each worth up to 100 points. Family Friendly Employer focuses on combining work with family and caregiving. Half of the survey points come from two questions on work–family balance and flexible hours, and all 39 HR criteria are family-focused. Top Employer looks at the employer as a whole. You can apply for either one.

Two parts decide the result: a confidential survey of all employees and a family-focused HR assessment, each worth up to 100 points. Certified requires at least 120 of 200 points, Silver 140, Gold 160 and Platinum 180. Minimums also apply to each part, to every general survey dimension, to the two family questions and to the core HR areas of flexible work, parental leave and childcare and caregiving. The details are in the methodology.

A quality seal, also called a label or seal of approval, makes a statement about the quality of an employer. The USIQ Family Friendly Employer seal is based on an employee survey and a documented HR assessment against published criteria.

A seal draws attention to particular strengths. Learn more about how seals work: What are seals of approval and how do they work?

Candidates compare employers before they apply, and many cannot check what an employer says about flexibility or parental leave. A seal based on an independent employee survey and documented practices gives them something they can verify.

A randomized experiment with 1,093 participants measured how an employer seal changes the likelihood that people apply for a job. The study, its method and its limits are summarized on the USIQ research page.

You also receive a full evaluation of the survey, which shows where employees see strengths and where they would like change.

The employee survey is open for 14 calendar days and can be extended once by seven days. The HR assessment is completed online during the same period. If USIQ asks for supporting evidence, you have 10 business days to respond. The decision follows once both parts and the second review are complete.

There are four packages, each a one-time payment covering 24 months: Basic at $2,990, Basic Plus at $3,990, Standard at $4,990 and Premium at $5,990. All of them include the employee survey, the HR assessment and the evaluation in Excel tables. The larger packages add a landing page, social media posts and press release services. Every package includes a $990 survey fee.

Your part is manageable. You distribute the approved survey invitation, so no list of employee contacts has to be handed over. A company representative answers the 39 HR criteria online and uploads redacted documents where a rating above level 1 is claimed. We are happy to walk you through the process in a short call.

No. The result depends on the survey and the HR assessment. If certification is not awarded, USIQ keeps the $990 survey fee and refunds the rest of the package price within 14 calendar days. With the Basic package, for example, you receive $2,000 back. No marketing services are provided in that case, and you keep your tabulated survey results and an explanatory summary.

Any employer with at least 10 employees working in the United States, in any industry. The order must name the legal employer and all covered US locations. Staffing agencies are assessed only for their own internal staff, not for workers placed with clients.

No. “Family” is meant broadly, and no employee is ever required to have or disclose family responsibilities. Neither the survey nor the HR assessment asks about pregnancy, family status or caregiving situation. Family-related practices must be offered on a nondiscriminatory basis and must not disadvantage employees without such responsibilities.

All employees are invited, including part-time staff and employees on leave, who receive the invitation through a channel that does not ask them to work. Participation is voluntary. Individual answers and verbatim comments are never shown to the employer, and groups with fewer than 5 valid responses are suppressed. Invitation contact files are deleted within 30 days after the survey closes, and raw responses within 90 days after the decision.

Yes, up to 6 optional statements, for example about awareness of a childcare benefit or satisfaction with the leave process. They are reviewed for privacy and neutrality, are reported separately, and never affect certification. They may not ask whether someone has children or caregiving duties, is or was pregnant, or has used a particular leave.

It covers 39 family-focused criteria in eight areas: work organization, leadership and management, flexible work and time, pregnancy, leave and return, childcare and family benefits, fairness for parents and carers, employer branding, and life events and emergencies. Each criterion is rated 0 to 5 for offer, access and implementation, and the lowest rating counts. A generous policy therefore cannot make up for poor access or delivery.

Only after USIQ has issued the award, released your artwork and supplied a working verification page. Applying, paying or completing the assessment does not authorize any certification claim. Use is limited to the certified legal employer and the assessed US locations. Unlisted affiliates, subsidiaries, franchisees and acquirers are not covered. The package you choose (Basic through Premium) does not affect your level or extend the license.

Look for evidence rather than slogans. Ask how flexible hours and leave work in practice, not only what the policy says. A Family Friendly Employer seal links to a public verification page that shows the level, the covered locations and the exact dates, and the criteria behind it are published.

Questions About the Family Friendly Employer Certificate?

Tell us about your company. We will explain which package fits and how the process would work for you.

FAMILY FRIENDLY EMPLOYER