01
Principles
Six rules that hold whatever the size, sector or country. A company that breaks one of them is not running the CloverQuadrant.
01
Employees are paid first
The labour quarter is distributed before the investor quarter in every cycle. If only part of the net profit can be distributed, employees are made whole before capital receives anything.
02
One definition of net profit
Net profit is defined once, in writing, before the year begins — and the same definition is used for all four quarters. No quarter may be computed on a different base.
03
Published or it did not happen
Every certified organisation publishes the split, the wage floor, the pay ratio and the impact allocation in a public annual report. Certification lapses without publication.
04
On top of bargaining, never instead of it
Profit sharing is additional to collectively bargained pay and conditions. The right to organise, bargain and strike is written into the charter and cannot be traded against a quarter.
05
DEI as outcome, not statement
Diversity, equity and inclusion are measured as distribution outcomes — who is hired, paid, promoted and retained — not as policies on a website.
06
Solvency before distribution
No quarter is distributed if it would take the company below its agreed liquidity threshold or leave prior-year losses uncovered.
02
Definitions
The standard lives or dies on these. Most ways to fake a fair split are really a redefinition of one of the words below.
- Net profit (CQ net)
- Profit after tax, after carry-forward of prior-year losses, after the agreed reinvestment reserve and after capital expenditure required to maintain operations. Set in the charter before the financial year opens; changes apply only to future years.
- Quarter
- 25% of CQ net, allocated to one of four holders: labour, impact, capital and reserve.
- Labour quarter
- Distributed to all employees on payroll for at least six months of the year, including part-time (pro rata) and fixed-term staff. Executives may not receive more than 3× the median individual share.
- Impact quarter
- Allocated to named social impact initiatives outside the company, traceable recipient by recipient. Marketing, sponsorship and in-house programmes do not qualify.
- Capital quarter
- Dividends, buybacks and any other distribution to shareholders, combined. The cap is on the total, not per instrument.
- Reserve quarter
- Retained in the company for growth, resilience and future capacity. Reported, not distributed.
- Wage floor
- The lowest total hourly compensation paid to any worker, including contracted and agency workers doing core work, benchmarked against a published living wage for the location.
- Pay ratio
- Total annual compensation of the highest-paid individual divided by the median total annual compensation of all workers, including contracted core workers.
- Cycle
- One financial year, closed with an audited report and a published distribution statement within six months of year end.
03
Measurement
Eight indicators. Each one has a single stated method and a named piece of evidence an auditor can ask for.
Profit split accuracy
Audited reconciliation from statutory accounts to CQ net, then to each of the four quarters. Deviation measured in percentage points from 25%.
Evidence: Signed reconciliation statement, general ledger extracts, board resolution.
Labour distribution reach
Share of eligible workers who actually received a payment, and the ratio of highest to median individual share.
Evidence: Payroll register, distribution schedule, exclusion log with reasons.
Wage floor
Lowest total hourly compensation as a percentage of the applicable published living wage, computed per location and reported at the weakest location.
Evidence: Payroll data, contractor invoices, living wage benchmark citation.
Pay ratio
Highest-paid total compensation ÷ median total compensation, disclosed as a single number with the calculation shown.
Evidence: Compensation register including equity, bonus and benefits.
DEI outcomes
Adjusted pay gap by gender and by other legally reportable characteristics; representation at each pay quartile; promotion and 24-month retention rates by group.
Evidence: HRIS export, regression methodology note, prior-year comparative.
Impact traceability
Share of the impact quarter traceable to a named recipient with a stated outcome measure and a receipt.
Evidence: Grant register, recipient confirmations, outcome reports.
Bargaining integrity
Confirmation that profit sharing is additional to bargained terms, plus any union objections recorded verbatim and unedited.
Evidence: Union statement, collective agreement reference, objection log.
Publication
Full report published at a permanent public URL within six months of year end, in the language of each operating country.
Evidence: Live URL, publication date, archived copy.
04
Scoring
100 points across the eight indicators. Two of them — the split itself and the wage floor — can fail the whole assessment on their own.
Within 0.5pp of 25% per quarter = full marks; over 3pp = zero and automatic non-conformance.
100% of eligible workers paid and spread within 3× = full marks.
At or above 100% of living wage at every location = full marks; below 90% = zero.
≤20:1 = full marks; ≥80:1 = zero.
Scored on gap closure and quartile representation against the prior year, not on absolutes.
≥95% of the quarter traced to named recipients = full marks.
Union confirmation on file and objections published unedited.
On time, complete, permanent URL.
05
Audit requirements
A claim nobody checked is marketing. These are the minimum conditions for an audit to count towards certification.
Who may audit
An independent licensed auditor with no other engagement with the company in the reporting year, appointed for a maximum of five consecutive cycles. Self-assessment is permitted only at Registered level.
Scope
The reconciliation from statutory accounts to CQ net, all four quarter allocations, payroll and contractor data for the wage floor and pay ratio, the DEI methodology, and the impact register.
Worker access
The auditor must offer a confidential channel to employees and to any recognised union. At least one union or worker representative interview per operating country is mandatory above Certified level.
Sampling
Minimum 10% of payroll records or 50 records, whichever is greater, plus 100% of impact disbursements above 5% of the impact quarter.
Findings and remedy
Material non-conformance suspends certification immediately. A remedy plan with dates must be published within 60 days; failure to remedy within one cycle withdraws certification for two years.
Public file
The audit opinion, the score sheet and any non-conformances are published in full. Unpublished audits do not count.
06
Certification levels
Four levels. Each one is a cycle of real, published numbers — never a fee and a logo.
Registered
Self-declared
The charter is adopted and published, the definition of net profit is set, and a first self-assessed report is available. No independent audit yet. Valid for one cycle only.
Certified
70–84 points
One full cycle completed, independently audited, all four quarters distributed and published. Wage floor at or above the living wage at every location.
Certified Gold
85–94 points
Two consecutive audited cycles, pay ratio at or below 40:1, measurable DEI gap closure year on year, and union confirmation on file.
Steward
95–100 points
Three consecutive audited cycles and the split locked in the legal form of the company, so a future board cannot reverse it. Pay ratio at or below 20:1.
07
Report template
Ten sections, published in the same order every year so any reader can compare one company with another — and this year with last.
- 1
Cover and declaration
Legal entity, reporting year, signature of the board and of the auditor, certification level applied for.
- 2
Definition of net profit
The definition in force for the year, unchanged since it was set, with the reconciliation from statutory accounts to CQ net.
- 3
The four quarters
Amount and percentage for each quarter, with deviation from 25% explained line by line.
- 4
Labour distribution
Number of eligible workers, number paid, median share, highest share, exclusion log with reasons.
- 5
Wages and pay ratio
Wage floor per location against the living wage benchmark, pay ratio with the calculation shown, prior-year comparative.
- 6
DEI outcomes
Adjusted pay gaps, representation per pay quartile, promotion and retention by group, methodology note.
- 7
Impact register
Every recipient by name, amount, stated outcome measure and result. Untraceable amounts listed separately.
- 8
Worker and union statement
Statement from recognised unions or elected representatives, published unedited, including objections.
- 9
Audit opinion and score sheet
Full opinion, the score per KPI, non-conformances and the remedy plan with dates.
- 10
Next cycle commitments
What changes next year, with owners and dates. Carried forward and scored in the following report.
Handbook draft 0.9. The standard is under development and open for comment — corrections and objections are welcome through the contact form on the charter page.