Employer League Data Protocol
A score is only worth trusting if you can see how it was earned.
This page documents the Employer League Data Protocol in full – how data is collected, how scores are determined, and how the protocol is protected against manipulation and commercial influence.
Who we score and rank
At Employer League, we measure all major employers. See Section 08 for inclusion criteria details.
What employers are measured on
Broad ratings hide the truth. We believe detailed, category-specific scores are critical to see exactly where an employer excels – and where they don't.
We currently score and rank employers across the following dimensions:
Brand Strength
Career Progression
Culture
Diversity & Inclusion
Management
Meaningful Work
Office Environment
Recruitment Process
Salary Satisfaction
Social Responsibility
Sustainability
Training & Development
Work-Life Balance
Not all dimensions are calculated the same way. Brand Strength is measured through a large-scale independent survey while all other dimensions are calculated from verified reviews. Full detail on each is in Section 04.
What scores an employer can receive
Every employer is scored on out of 10 for a specific dimension outlined in Section 02.
Scores are determined by how an employer's score compares to others in the same career path, not against the entire market. For example, a score of 8 in pay for a law employer reflects a different result to a score of 8 in pay for a media employer, because the comparison group is different (see Section 05 for full detail on how career paths are defined).
This means scores are fair and useful within a career path, and shift only when actual performance shifts, not when the cohort changes.
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 9-10 | Exceptional |
| 8-9 | Very Good |
| 7-8 | Good |
| 5-7 | Average |
| 0-5 | Poor |
| Pending | Insufficient verified data |
| Not verified | No verified data exists for this category |
Why an employer may not have a score
There are two possible reasons why an employer score does not appear.
First, the employer has not yet accumulated enough verified reviews or data to meet our minimum sample threshold. In this case, the score is shown as 'Pending'. The employer is in the process but there simply isn't enough data yet to issue a result.
Alternatively, no verified data exists for this employer in this category. In this case, the score is shown as 'Not verified'. This could mean that the employer is new to the platform, or that no verified reviews or data have been submitted yet. Either way, it's worth noting: an employer with no verified record is harder to evaluate than one with a score, even a low one.
See Section 04 to understand the types of data we collect for each dimension.
How data is collected
The data collected varies by ranking category:
| Ranking category | Data source |
|---|---|
| Brand Strength | Large-scale independent surveys |
Career Progression Culture Diversity & Inclusion Management Meaningful Work Office Environment Recruitment Process Salary Satisfaction Social Responsibility Sustainability Training & Development Work-Life Balance | Verified employee reviews |
Further detail for each category is provided below.
Brand Strength
Brand Strength is a measure of how appealing an employer is as a place to work within a specific career path. It is measured through a large-scale independent market survey where respondents are asked two questions: whether they have heard of an employer, and whether that employer appeals to them as a place to work.
More than 50,000 survey responses have contributed to our survey. Each survey response generates one data point per question. With an average of 10+ questions per survey, a single survey response contributes 10+ data points to the dataset.
Employer lists are randomised to remove ordering bias. Scores are calculated using a Plackett-Luce statistical model designed to produce fair results across employers with varying levels of name recognition. To ensure robustness, we also calculate a Total Reversed Normalised Score (TRNS), which balances out low sample sizes.
Brand Strength rankings are published by career path so the results reflect genuine desirability within a specific field, not broad name recognition across all industries.
Employer workplace quality and performance
This category covers all other dimensions:
Career Progression
Culture
Diversity & Inclusion
Management
Meaningful Work
Office Environment
Recruitment Process
Salary Satisfaction
Social Responsibility
Sustainability
Training & Development
Work-Life Balance
Scores are calculated from a large pool of verified reviews, time-weighted to reflect current experience.
Each review carries a rating out of 10.
Reviewers verify their identity and employment before their review is accepted into the dataset. We enforce minimum sample thresholds before a score is published. Reviews are time-weighted to reflect the current employee experience.
Some of these dimensions such as culture, management and meaningful work are inherently subjective. One person's experience of a workplace will differ from another's. This is expected, and it is accounted for in how scores are produced.
No single review determines a score. What the score reflects is not whether you personally will have the same experience, rather it reflects how the employer has performed across a broad pool of verified accounts.
In other words, individual variation averages out and what remains is a reliable signal of how an employer genuinely performs, even for dimensions that feel hard to quantify.
Our review collection process asks reviewers to provide both a numeric rating and qualitative detail. Examples of the questions asked are provided below:
| Ranking category | Example questions asked of reviewers |
|---|---|
| Culture | How would you rate the workplace culture at your employer? Please describe the workplace culture both in the office and after hours, including structure, teamwork, and how colleagues socialise. |
| Meaningful Work | How satisfied are you with the tasks you are given to work on? Please describe your role and day-to-day tasks. |
| Training & Development | How satisfied are you with the formal and informal training development opportunities offered in your role? Please describe the training programs available and the skills you've developed – including any development opportunities, performance feedback, or coaching and mentoring you've received. |
| Office Environment | How would you rate your employer's physical work environment and facilities? Please comment on the workspace, location and facilities – including anything about the dress code. |
| Recruitment Process | How did you find the overall recruitment process when you applied for this role? Please describe your experience with the interview process and assessments. |
Reviewers verify their identity and employment before their review is accepted into the dataset. A minimum of 5 verified reviews is required before a score is published. If the most recent review is more than 2 years old, no score is produced regardless of sample size. Reviews are time-weighted so that recent experience carries more weight than older data.
How we define career paths
Employer League scores and ranks employers by career path rather than overall. This is a deliberate design decision.
Most candidates do not approach their career search by evaluating all possible employers against each other. They have a career path in mind – a law clerkship, a management consulting role, an accounting program. An overall employer ranking flattens these distinctions. An employer that is exceptional for software engineers may be average for marketing. A single score obscures that.
Career paths on Employer League are defined at the discipline level, not the broad category. Engineering, for example, is not a single path – it covers civil, mechanical, electrical, geotechnical, software and more. Each has its own employer score and ranks.
How rankings are generated from the scores
Scores and rankings are related but not the same thing.
Scores are calculated first, according to the methodology described in Section 04. Rankings are then generated from the underlying scores that produce those scores. This also means the #1 ranked employer is not automatically given a score of 10 out of 10.
Rankings tell you who performs best within a group. Scores tell you how that group compares to the wider standard. Both matter, and reading them together, gives you the clearest picture of each employer.
How we protect the protocol
The Data Protocol is designed against manipulation from the ground up.
Identity verification
Every review submitted to the dataset requires identity and employment verification. Unverified submissions are not accepted. This means the data reflects the experience of people who actually worked there, not anonymous submissions.
Minimum sample thresholds
No score is published without sufficient data behind it. We enforce minimum sample thresholds for every dimension before a result appears on the table. No employer receives a score on the basis of a handful of responses.
No commercial influence
Employers do not fund these scores or rankings. They cannot pay to improve their result, suppress a dimension, or remove themselves from the table. There is no commercial relationship between Employer League and any employer that affects results. The data decides – nothing else.
Recency weighting
Recent reviews carry more weight than older ones in the time-weighted score. If the most recent verified review for a dimension is more than 2 years old, no score is produced for that dimension, regardless of how many reviews exist. A score reflects the current employee experience, not historical performance.
Criteria for inclusion
To be scored and ranked in a career path, an employer must meet the following criteria:
Active role
The employer must have actively recruited for a role in the last two years that fits within the career path.
Sufficient data
The employer must meet the minimum sample threshold for at least one dimension before any score is published. Employers with insufficient data won't appear in the table for that dimension.
Data Protocol Version 1.1 | Issued May 2026
This protocol may evolve over time. When it does, we will publish what changed, why it changed, and what effect it has on the scores. The Data Protocol is a living document – and it will always be a public one.