This project aims to research the effects of policies that promote work-life balance within APEC economies on the ability of women to progress in their careers, particularly in leading MSMEs in the COVID-19 economic recovery scenario. The report is divided into seven sections, beginning with an introduction. The next section presents a theoretical framework, the third one, a literature review of work-family balance policies in the APEC economies, followed by a brief discussion of these policies implemented within the COVID framework. Following a description of the study's methodology, the cases that underwent in-depth analysis are detailed in the section that follows. Finally, the last section shows the toolkit for framing the work-family balance policies that can be regarded as best practices.