Public, versioned, deterministic

How a survey turns into a score.

Every certificate traces back to the formulas on this page: how ratings are averaged, how time affects weight, and what stops the numbers from being gamed.

Deterministic

Same inputs always produce the same score. No editorial weighting, no hidden knobs.

Public

Every formula, threshold, and weight is documented on this page. Changes ship with a version bump.

Unbought

Employers cannot pay for placement, removals, or a better score — zero exceptions since day one.

Verifiable

Every certificate carries a QR code and public verification URL returning the underlying record.

Scoring formula

Each employee rates all 15 categories on a 1–5 scale. We average all category ratings for an overall score, then convert to a 0–100% employee satisfaction figure. Nothing else influences the number.

overall_score = mean(category_scores) // 1–5 scale
satisfaction_% = (overall_score / 5) × 100
verdict = satisfaction_% ≥ 75 ? "Good" : "Worst"

Skipped categories drop out of the mean — they don't count as zeros.

Verdict threshold

Good Place to Work

≥ 75%

Employees report a healthy workplace. Certificate valid 12 months.

Worst Workplace to Work

< 75%

Employees flag serious issues. Certificate remains until a re-survey inverts the verdict.

Time-decay weighting

Recent employee experience matters more than ancient history. Older reviews are down-weighted so a badge always reflects the current reality.

0–24 months

100%

24–36 months

50%

36+ months

Sample floor

A certificate only issues after 3+ verified employee submissions. Below the floor, the organization's profile shows a "building consensus" banner and no badge. Individual outliers dissolve into the mean once enough employees have submitted.

15 categories measured

Every category is weighted equally — no dimension counts more than another.

Leadership

How honest, visible, and clear-headed senior leaders are about direction and decisions

Management

Quality of your direct manager: support, fairness, and coaching

Salary & Benefits

Whether pay and benefits feel fair for the role and market

Work-Life Balance

Sustainable hours, flexibility, and respected personal boundaries

Career Growth

Real opportunities to be promoted, learn, and take on new challenges

Recognition

Whether good work is noticed, credited, and rewarded promptly

Diversity

Representation across levels and fair treatment regardless of background

Inclusion

Whether every voice is invited in and genuinely heard in decisions

Culture

What it actually feels like to work here day to day

Toxic Behaviour

Freedom from bullying, politics, and gossip (higher score = healthier)

Micromanagement

Trust and autonomy given versus constant oversight (higher = more autonomy)

HR Support

How responsively and fairly HR handles issues and requests

Infrastructure

Quality of tools, workspace, and resources needed to do the job well

Learning

Access to training budgets, mentorship, and skill development

Psychological Safety

Freedom to speak up, disagree, or admit mistakes without fear

Fraud & manipulation controls

Domain verification

Only work-email addresses matching the organization's domain can submit. Personal emails are rejected before insert.

Sample floor

Certificates only issue after ≥ 3 verified employee submissions. Below that, profiles show a 'building consensus' banner.

Fingerprint dedup

A one-way hashed IP fingerprint blocks the same reviewer from stuffing multiple submissions.

AI outlier flagging

An automated toxicity + coordinated-submission detector flags suspicious clusters for human review. AI never overrides ratings.

Appeals & disputes

Employers can submit evidence of coordinated bad-faith submissions or a material factual error to appeals@verifiedculture.com.
Verified appeals trigger a full re-audit within 14 days; results are attached to the certificate record for transparency.
Content-policy removals (identifying details, hate speech, defamation) are handled inside 48 hours.
Disagreement with a rating is never grounds for removal — the mean of many submissions is designed to dilute individual bias.
Worst-rated organizations can request a re-survey after documented change; a fresh, verified window replaces the old score.

Version history

Every methodology change ships with a version bump and a dated changelog. Old certificates keep their original version stamp.

v1.2

Aug 2026

Added time-decay weighting: reviews > 24 months = 50%, > 36 months = 0%.

v1.1

Mar 2026

Extended sample floor from 1 to 3 verified submissions for badge issuance.

v1.0

Sep 2025

Initial public release. 15 categories, 75% threshold, mean-of-ratings formula.

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