Bradford Factor System

With 131 million days lost in 2013 due to sickness absence, the Bradford score system is becoming popular with human resources departments. With an average of 4.4 working days lost per UK worker, the average number of days may now be falling, but the issue remains a significant challenge to UK businesses. It can cause disruption and productivity dips. The problem has been highlighted with sharper focus since many companies now cannot claim back statutory sick pay following changes to UK government policy.

The Bradford Factor score is calculated as follows: S² x D = B.

• Where S is the number of spells of sickness
• Where D is the total number of days off sick in 52 weeks.

The Bradford Factor system is a way to use raw absenteeism data to determine how often an employee takes sick leave. While it is a valid human resource tool, it should not be used solely to dismiss staff. General guidelines for Bradford Factor system scores are as follows:

• Score between 0–50: No action needed required.
• Score between 51–124: Verbal warning.
• Score between 125–399: Written warning.
• Score between 400–649: Final written warning.
• Score => 650: Employee should be dismissed.

The Bradford Factor points system is an excellent first step in managing absences in the workplace. It is highly beneficial for big companies, where relationships between workers and senior leaders are distant. However, as with all absences, the assessment must be handled sensitively, which wouldn’t be the case if the assessor were to rely solely on the Bradford absence system.

Bradford Factor scores, in many cases, need to be looked at in more detail. For example, short-term, frequent absences can be legitimate, and employees are often wrongly put under suspicion. However, this can be dealt with by excluding certain absence types from Bradford Factor calculations. Absences related to pregnancy, disability, or underlying illness will be eliminated quickly from the total points after a conversation with the employee concerned. It is recommended that medical evidence and reasonable adjustments should be made before applying the Bradford Factor system.

The safest approach when using Bradford Factor calculations is to ensure that critical decisions, such as disciplinary action, are not based on Bradford Factor score alone. The scores act best as a trigger to prompt line managers to investigate a case further – when consistency and fairness have to be applied and when each case may be different.