Our Commitment
The Independence Charter
These are the five things The Separation Index will not do — stated publicly so that workers, journalists, and the companies we track can hold us to them.
We take no money from companies we track.
The Separation Index does not offer paid placement, sponsored scores, "verified partner" programs, or any product that lets a company purchase a higher score, a removed report, or a preferred position in search results. We are funded by users, not by employers. This is not a policy we apply selectively — it is a structural rule with no exceptions. If that ever changes, we will say so publicly before the change takes effect.
Separation reports are never removed because a company complained.
An honest account of a separation experience — even a sharply negative one — is not grounds for removal. Companies may file a formal dispute only on four grounds: documented factual inaccuracy, a clear violation of community guidelines, no verifiable employment relationship between the reporter and the company, or mistaken identity. Every dispute is reviewed against the original submission. Complaint volume alone does not trigger action.
We will never build a pay-to-respond product.
There is no subscription, program, or paid tier that gives a company privileged access to moderate, suppress, or respond to separation reports in a way not available to all companies. Company responses are permitted at no cost and are clearly labeled. We will not build a tiered system that disadvantages reports from unverified employees or displaces critical content.
All scoring methodology is public and will remain public.
The complete explanation of how Separation Scores are calculated — including weights, recency adjustments, and confidence thresholds — is published and will remain publicly accessible without restriction. We will not move methodology behind a paywall or obscure the rules that govern how companies are scored.
If this platform is acquired, user data is deleted first.
If The Separation Index is ever sold or transferred to new ownership, all user-identifiable data — confirmed email addresses, session hash mappings, draft records, and account information — will be deleted or made permanently unrecoverable before the transfer is completed. Individual identity records are not ours to transfer.
See also: How It Works · Dispute Process