Bradford Factor calculator

What the Bradford Factor is

The Bradford Factor is a single number that summarises a person's sickness absence over a set period, usually a rolling 52 weeks. It is built from two counts. S is the number of spells, meaning separate occasions of absence, whatever their length. D is the total number of days lost across all of those spells. The score is S multiplied by S multiplied by D.

Squaring the spells is the whole point. The method assumes that frequent short absences disrupt a team more than one long absence, because they are harder to plan around. So it weights how often someone is off far more heavily than how long.

Why frequency counts for so much

Take ten days of absence in a year and spread them three ways. One spell of ten days scores 1 x 1 x 10, which is 10. Five spells of two days scores 5 x 5 x 10, which is 250. Ten single days scores 10 x 10 x 10, which is 1,000. The days lost are identical. The score differs by a factor of one hundred.

That is why the result card tells you what the same number of days would have scored as a single absence. The gap between the two figures is the part of the score that comes from the pattern, not from the amount of time off.

Bands and trigger points

There are no official thresholds. The Bradford Factor is a common management practice, not a legal standard, and every employer sets its own trigger points in its absence policy. The calculator starts with the defaults used in the Axiom Leave and Absence Tracker: Green below 50, Amber from 50, Orange from 125 and Red from 450. Change the three trigger boxes to match your own policy and the band updates.

A typical scheme ties each band to a step: nothing beyond a normal return-to-work conversation in Green, an informal discussion in Amber, a structured meeting in Orange and formal absence management in Red. What matters is that the steps are written down, known to staff and applied to everyone in the same way.

Using it fairly

A score is a prompt to talk, not a verdict. It cannot see why someone was absent, and the reason is usually what decides the right response. Three cautions are worth building into any policy.

• Disability and long-term conditions. A condition that causes frequent short absences will produce a high score by design. In the UK, applying a trigger without considering reasonable adjustments can amount to disability discrimination, so many employers record disability-related absence separately or adjust the triggers.
• Pregnancy-related absence. This should be recorded separately and kept out of the score.
• Consistency. Decide what counts as a day and a spell, how part-time patterns are treated and what period you measure over, and then hold to it.

Used with those safeguards, the number does one job well: it brings a pattern to a manager's attention early, while a supportive conversation can still change it. The return-to-work interview is where that conversation happens, as covered in return-to-work interviews that close the loop.

Common questions

What counts as a spell?

One continuous period of absence, from the first day off to the return to work. A single day and a three-week absence are each one spell. Two absences separated by a day back at work are two spells.

Is my score good or bad?

Only your own policy can say. A score of 200 is past the main trigger under the defaults here and unremarkable under a policy that starts at 250. Compare the score with your triggers, not with a figure from another organisation.

Is anything I enter stored?

No. The calculation happens on this page, in your browser. The numbers are held in the page address so that you can copy a link to a result, and the tool never asks who the score belongs to.

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