Are you one of the people who always seems to be covering for sick colleagues? In the UK, people take an average of 9.4 sick days each year, which costs employers a whopping £103 billion.
With a particularly nasty set of viruses going round and signs that the flu season has started earlier than usual, you may have already noticed people taking the odd sick day.
For managers and HR professionals, keeping track of how those ‘odd sick days’ add up is important, which is where the Bradford Factor can be helpful as a way to track your team’s sickness absence.
What is the Bradford Factor score calculator?
The Bradford Factor, also called the Bradford scale or score, was developed at the University of Bradford in the 1970s. It reflects the principle that many short-term absences disrupt work more than one long-term absence.
The score helps HR professionals keep track of sickness days and spot patterns of absence.
An objective measure of employee absences helps HR and managers spot potential issues, including burnout, disengagement, or deeper workplace problems.
What’s the cost of sickness absence in the UK?
A 2024 study by The Institute for Employment Studies estimated that employers spend between 2% and 16% of their annual salary bill on absence, including paying for the employee who is off work and covering the absence.
With employees entitled to statutory sick pay from day one of their employment since 6 April 2026, the cost to employers is real, making it even more important to track both absences and trends.
Why should managers track their team’s short absences?
Many short-term absences disproportionately affect a team’s performance and productivity. Repeatedly covering someone’s tasks disrupts colleagues and managers and makes it harder to achieve team targets. The Bradford Factor’s formula reflects this.
How do managers and HR professionals use the Bradford scale?
If an organisation uses the Bradford Factor method, every employee, team, and the organisation as a whole should have a score. Read on for how that’s calculated.
Accepted trigger points indicate when scores should raise concern; we’ve included a handy table in this article for you to refer to.
How does the Bradford scale calculate a score?
You can calculate Bradford scores for people, teams, and organisations using this helpful calculator. It may be included in your HR software, or you can do it manually – here’s how.
- B = S2 x D
- B = Bradford Factor formula
- S = Number of separate absences in the date range
- D = Total number of days off in the date range
Why is the score calculated this way?
We square the number of absences to reflect the disruption caused by many chunks of time off.
If two people had the same number of days off, say seven, but one had seven individual days off, and the other had seven continuous days off, their scores would differ greatly.
- 72 x 7 = 343
- 12 x 7 = 49
What are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Bradford scores?
A low score shows that a team or employee hasn’t had many days off or short periods of absence. Objectively speaking, this is a ‘good’ Bradford score.
Typically, teams with a Bradford score of 50 or less have better productivity and fewer absence gaps to cover.
When a score reaches 50, a manager should monitor it. If a team scores over 100, absence is likely impacting its performance.
How to use the Bradford score effectively
Use the tool as part of an absence management policy and process.
There are also some accepted thresholds which will help you use the Bradford Factor with your people and teams, including action you might want to consider for each range.
Score What it means
Under 50 Typical score for an average employee
Over 50 A threshold for concern or basic monitoring
Over 100 Potentially the start of a trend you need to keep an eye on
Over 200 You probably need to take some action
Between 200 & 500 A signal that you need to tackle what’s going on
Over 500 Potential grounds for dismissal or a detailed meeting
Why do UK organisations use the Bradford Factor?
It was adopted in the UK mainly because it was developed here. It was seen as an objective and consistent quantitative option for assessing people’s time off sick.
It’s not used globally, partly because some countries give workers a pool of paid time off that includes sick leave and holidays, so tracking sick days doesn’t make sense.
Why is it useful for managers?
The Bradford formula makes it easy to spot when a manager needs to talk about time off, which can lead to a plan to support the employee and manage their absence.
It’s not easy to spot that situation if you only look at the number of sickness absence days.
What are the disadvantages of using the Bradford score?
It’s not a perfect approach. Some of the disadvantages include:
- It’s a blunt tool, with a lack of context about why people are off
- It treats a cluster of absences related to the same illness the same as a pattern of being off on Mondays or Fridays
- It might not be suitable for teams with high exposure to infection or where long-term illnesses are common
- Fear of a ‘bad’ score might encourage people to come to work when they really shouldn’t, which could help illness spread or contribute to burnout
Some situations also require adjusting a person’s Bradford Score.
How does it affect people who struggle with their mental health?
Absences due to problems with mental health account for an estimated 41% of sickness lasting more than four weeks in the UK.
So it’s important to know the formula is harsh on people with anxiety or depression as they may have many individual periods of absence. Managers need to understand this context and provide appropriate support.
What absences must be excluded or adjusted when using the Bradford Factor?
Under the Equality Act 2010, time off linked to a disability may need to be excluded from the calculation or treated as a reasonable adjustment. Being rigid in the way you apply the score to someone with a disability could amount to discrimination.
Exceptions should also be made for people:
- who are pregnant
- going through IVF treatment
- experiencing menopause
If someone is off work to look after a dependent, that should also be considered.
What are the alternatives for monitoring sickness absence?
Any system that simply tracks sick days could be an alternative. It’s also good practice to look for patterns, like people consistently being off on Mondays, Fridays or around holidays.
Why it’s important to use analytics in HR
Using a diverse range of evidence and analytics supports good decision-making. This is a core principle of good HR, which you can learn about in our CIPD Level 3 qualification.
Many HR platforms use the Bradford Factor to calculate scores, apply trigger thresholds, and automatically send alerts.
Pragmatic ways to use the Bradford Factor
- Know the formula but be aware of its limitations
It’s useful to calculate the score and explain why two people with the same number of days off may get different scores. Also be clear about what the score doesn’t tell you. - Set triggers that are clear, fair and written down
Make sure they are in your absence management policy and that all employees know them. - Treat a trigger as a reason for a conversation, not a sanction
Absence management should start with support. Understand why someone is taking so much time off, or so many individual periods of absence. - Check for protected absences before you act
Ask whether an absence is linked to a disability, pregnancy or another protected reason. If it does, adjust it. - Build reasonable adjustments into your process
If people have a long-term illness or disability, adapted triggers are the right option. Make sure you document the reasons why these have been applied so you can show you’re acting consistently and fairly.
Want more confidence with HR tools?
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If you are just starting out in your career, our CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice is a great place to start.
If you’re already established in your career, our CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management is a logical next step that builds on what you already know.
Or take a master’s-level equivalent qualification with our Level 7 Advanced Diploma in People Management.
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