What is The Bradford Factor?

It is accepted that frequent, short term sick leave has a detrimental effect on an organisation. Staff cover can be difficult to arrange in such circumstances, and the workload of other employees is often dramatically effected, as they struggle to cope with the added work and pressure.

This frequent sick leave, if not promptly handled, can cause a knock on effect throughout an organisation, with employees noting others having time off and thinking – “If they can, why can’t I?”

How is The Bradford Factor Calculated?

The Bradford Factor is a simple calculation that can be used to highlight frequent, short-term employee sick leave. The score returned by the Bradford Factor calculation can help to identify those individuals within your organisation who may have sickness records worthy of further investigation. It can also act as a deterrent as employees realise that sick leave is being monitored. Many organisations have noticed a reduction in sick leave once the Bradford Factor is implemented.

LeavePlanner.com incorporates the Bradford Factor, allowing you to view the Bradford Factor Scores for your employees, and run Bradford Factor reports, all at the click of a button.

What is the formula for the Bradford Factor?

E x E x D = Bradford Factor Score

Where E is the number of episodes of absence and D is the total number of days absent in a rolling 52 week period.

So, for employees with a total of 10 days absence in one year, the Bradford Factor score can vary enormously, depending on the number of episodes of absence involved. For example:

One absence episode of 10 days is 10 points (i.e. 1 x 1 x 10)

Five absence episodes of two days each is 250 points (i.e. 5 x 5 x 10)

Ten absence episodes of one day each is 1,000 points (i.e. 10 x 10 x 10)