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Family Friendly Enterprise Certificate

represents a consulting-audit process and has been developed as one of the tools for effective and more quality human resources management within enterprises and organizations in the context of balancing professional and private lives of employees. Certificate represents one of the various possibilities of a socially responsible acting of a particular enterprise or organisation. Enterprises and organizations are increasingly aware of their social responsibility and their influence on their employees and the general public. They are aware that behind their success, there are not only managers, but also employees that are crucial in certain work process. For the successful development and growth, their satisfaction and adherence is of key importance, which is also a key objective of the Family Friendly Certificate.

Beginnings

The “Family Friendly Enterprise” represents a significant novelty in the Slovenian business environment. Sociological research conducted within the scope of the project by the Faculty of Social Sciences (University of Ljubljana) demonstrated that Slovenian managers do not regard balancing work and family as an issue to be discussed in the workplace. Rather, it is treated as something that the employees need to manage by themselves and ought not to raise at work with their supervisors. The goal of introducing the certificate “Family Friendly Enterprise” was

• to sensitize businesses about negative business impact of discriminating (potential) parents in the workplace as well as in the labour market,
• to provide businesses with tools for implementation of such HR policies that enable better balancing of work and family for their employees,
• to publicly recognize those business with a positive attitude to provide options of balancing work and family of their employees

The certification methodology is based on the system “European work & family audit”, developed by the German organization “Berufundfamilie”. The Slovenian DP adopted the German methodology to the specifics of the Slovenian economic and legislative framework.

List of measures

The certification basis is the Catalogue of Measures, a document including all measures which are available to companies joining the certification process. The Catalogue is divided into 8 main areas:

Official list of measures is introduced to those enterprises/organizations in procedure, to secure professional and optimum selection of measures, suitable for individual enterprise or organization. We believe that this is possible only through consulting-audit process in the framework of obtaining Familiy Friendly Enterprise certificate.

Short description of the process

In 2022, there were 229 active holders of a Certificate FFE.

To obtain the basic Certificate (6 months after entering the certification process), an organisation, with the help of a consultant from the Ekvilib Institute, has to prepare a detailed roadmap for the implementation of measures and define criteria for assessing the implementation of individual measures. Working groups in organisations are able to choose, according to their needs, between measures divided into before mentioned eight areas. All measures have to complement or go beyond the organisational processes laid down by law. The roadmap has to be confirmed by the senior management and the audit board of the Ekvilib Institute. Three years after obtaining the basic Certificate the organisation is granted a full Certificate on the basis of a detailed report on the implementation of every measure and a positive evaluation by an auditor and the members of the audit board.

Audit board

Audit board is a professional and an independent body, composed of the representatives of the academic sphere and different social partners. Role of external auditors is a review and evaluation of needed documentation before the final entitlement of an enterprise/organization to the certificate.

Members:

• Karmen Leban, Asociation of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia
• mag. Maja Kersnik, Slovenian association of friends of youth
• Maja Skorupan, The Association of Employers of Slovenia
• mag. Maja Skorupan
• dr. Sonja Robnik, Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
• Nevenka Močnik, Društvo Altra

External consultants

External consultants facilitate the process of acquiring the Family Friendly Certificate in cooperation with the individual enterprise/organization in accordance with the regulations and plan of progress.

External consultants are certificated, independent professionals with background and experience in business consulting or research. Beside education and experience they must also successfully finish additional training and acquire skills, necessary for the quality consulting process in the field of reconciliation of professional and private life of employees.