Safety Design
Effective Date: May 1, 2026
Tether is not a crisis service. When an employee's needs exceed what a coaching tool can provide, Tether stops coaching and redirects immediately. This page describes exactly how that works.
"Tether knows its limits. When someone needs more than coaching, the coaching stops."
Tether uses a three-tier automated safety system. The tier that activates depends on the nature of what an employee shares. Most interactions stay in Tier 1. The higher tiers are designed to recognize when the conversation has moved beyond the appropriate scope of a coaching tool and to connect the employee with qualified human support.
What this looks like:
What Tether does: Coaches normally. Acknowledges what the employee is experiencing, offers a practical reframe grounded in the ADKAR framework and evidence-based psychology, asks one focused question to help clarify what the employee needs, and suggests one concrete next step. The conversation continues.
What this looks like:
What Tether does: Pauses the coaching conversation. Acknowledges what the employee shared without judgment or alarm. States clearly that what they are describing sounds heavier than typical work stress and goes beyond what a coaching tool can adequately address. Refers the employee to their company's EAP as a confidential resource. Encourages them to reach out to a qualified human professional. Does not attempt to continue coaching until the employee signals they want to do so.
What Tether says (approximate):
What this looks like:
What Tether does: Immediately stops coaching. Expresses direct, clear concern. Provides the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) and instructs the employee to call 911 if they are in immediate danger. Does not attempt to continue the coaching conversation after a Tier 3 activation.
What Tether says (verbatim):
These resources are always available, 24 hours a day.
These safety protocols are automated. They are designed to recognize certain language patterns associated with distress — but they are not foolproof.
Tether may not recognize every crisis situation. It may respond imperfectly to some. A person in genuine distress who expresses it indirectly, ambiguously, or in ways the system does not pattern-match may not trigger an escalation response. No AI system can guarantee it will detect every emergency.
Do not rely on Tether to keep you safe. If you or someone you know is in danger, call 911 immediately. If you are struggling, please reach out to a human — a trusted person, your company's EAP, or one of the crisis resources listed above.
The safety protocols exist because they help. They are not a substitute for human judgment, a licensed mental health professional, or emergency services.
When a Tier 2 or Tier 3 protocol activates, the event is logged. The log records the timestamp and the protocol tier activated. It does not record conversation content in a form linked to an identifiable individual employee. HR does not receive notification of individual safety events tied to specific employees.
Aggregate safety event data — for example, the number of Tier 2 activations across the organization in a given period — may appear in the HR analytics dashboard as an anonymized aggregate figure. This helps organizations understand whether their workforce is experiencing elevated distress during a change initiative without exposing any individual's coaching activity.
Safety event logs are retained for a minimum of three years in compliance with California SB 243 requirements.
Beginning July 1, 2027, Tethered Consulting will publish annual anonymized reports on safety protocol activation rates across the platform, as required by California SB 243. These reports will be aggregated across all Customers and will not identify any individual organization or employee.
Tether is not a surveillance or monitoring tool. HR and management cannot use Tether to track individual employee sentiment, identify who is struggling, or review individual conversations. The privacy boundary between coaching content and employer visibility is absolute and contractually enforced. See the Privacy Policy for full details.
Questions about Tether's safety design, crisis protocols, or SB 243 compliance should be directed to:
Tethered Consulting
joree@comcast.net