Pay quartiles explained: how to build the four pay bands
By the Equaudit team · Updated · 3 min read
The mean and median pay gaps summarise pay in one number. Pay quartiles show the shape behind that number: how many women and men sit in the lowest-paid quarter of your workforce, the next quarter and so on up to the highest-paid. The EU Pay Transparency Directive requires employers to report this split.
What a quartile pay band is
The directive defines a quartile pay band as one of four equal parts into which all workers' pay levels are divided in increasing order, from lowest to highest. For each band you report the proportion of female and male workers. Equal parts means the same number of people in each band, so a company with 200 workers has 50 in each.
How to build them
- Compute each worker's hourly pay on the same basis you use for the overall gap. See how to calculate the gender pay gap.
- Sort everyone from lowest to highest pay.
- Cut the sorted list into four groups of equal size. Q1 is the lowest-paid quarter and Q4 the highest.
- In each group, count women and men and express each as a percentage of the group.
A worked example
Eight workers, four women (F) and four men (M), sorted by hourly pay:
| Band | Workers (hourly pay) | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 (lowest) | F 18, F 19 | 100% | 0% |
| Q2 | F 21, M 22 | 50% | 50% |
| Q3 | F 24, M 26 | 50% | 50% |
| Q4 (highest) | M 29, M 35 | 0% | 100% |
Overall, half the workforce is female, yet the lowest band is entirely women and the top band entirely men. The mean pay gap is 26.8% (women average 20.50, men 28.00), and it comes from where people sit in the distribution rather than from anyone necessarily being paid differently for the same job. That is exactly the pattern quartiles are designed to reveal.
Reading the result
A balanced company shows roughly the overall share of women in every band. Where women are over-represented in the lower bands and under-represented in the upper bands, the overall gap will be positive even if pay within each job is equal. The fix is then about hiring, promotion and access to higher-paid roles, not about adjusting individual salaries. Compare quartiles with your category gaps and your 5% analysis to see which problem you have.
Pitfalls to avoid
- Ties. Many people share the same hourly pay. When the boundary between two bands falls inside a group of equal earners, the split inside that group is arbitrary, so use a consistent rule and document it.
- Uneven headcount. When your headcount does not divide by four, bands differ by one person. Document how you allocate the remainder.
- Small teams. With few workers each band is a handful of people and percentages swing wildly. Report accurately and interpret with caution.
- Mixed definitions. Use the same pay definition as your other indicators, including variable pay where required. See the bonus and variable pay gap.
Equaudit builds the four bands automatically from your CSV. Quartile detail is part of the Pro report.
Frequently asked questions
What does an equal split by quartile look like?
Each band mirrors the overall workforce, so if 45% of your workers are women, roughly 45% of every quartile should be women. Large deviations show where women or men are concentrated.
Do part-timers go in the quartile calculation?
Yes. Use hourly pay so part-timers and full-timers are compared on the same basis, and include everyone in the defined population.
Are quartiles reported per category?
The quartile split is reported for the employer's whole workforce. The category-level gap is a separate indicator.