What is the Bradford Factor? How to calculate a Bradford Score?

What is the Bradford Factor

The Bradford Factor is a systems used to calculate a score for each employee's absence is a year. The higher the score, the more disruption the employees absence is causing your company.

Bradford scores are a way of identifying individuals with serious absence and patterns of absence worthy of further investigation. It helps highlight causes for concern and often is one of the starting points in an attendance procedure.

Using the Bradford Factor helps to discourage excess absenteeism and allows managers to compare employee attendance between different departments, as well as across the company as a whole.

How to calculate a Bradford Score

   S x S x D = Bradford points score

   S = the number of occasions of absence in the last 52 weeks

   D = the total number of days absence in the last 52 weeks

Examples

Employee A
Has 9 sickdays in a year, 4 are single day absences and 5 are in a block.
S = 1(1) + 1(1) + 1(1) + 1(1) + 1(5) = 5
D = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 5 = 9
score = 5 x 5 x 9 = 225
Employee B
Has 15 sickdays in a year, 3 blocks of five days.
S = 1(5) + 1(5) + 1(5) = 3
D = 5 + 5 + 5 = 15
score = 3 x 3 x 15 = 135

The examples show that B has more sickdays than A, yet B's Bradford Score is lower than A's. This is because multiple single day absences are considered more disruptive to a company, than fewer longer periods of absence.

Bradford Factor Online Calculator

To use the calculator, enter the number of sick days, for each instance of sick leave.

Instances of Sick days. Enter number of days or leave at zero.

=

Using the examples from above.

(The calculator works for up to eight instances of sickness and a max of 20 days in an instance)

Bradford Factor Case Studies

Case study on how the HM Prison Service used the Bradford Factor to reduce absenteeism by 25% over four years.
Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector (pdf file)

Shirley Powell, head of HR, The Childcare Corporation describes how she used the Bradford Factor to tackle absenteeism.
The Childcare Corporation - Bradford Factor - Case Study

What is the Bradford Factor? How to calculate a Bradford Score?