Bradford Factor calculator
Enter the number of separate absences and the total days lost. The score weights frequency far above duration, which is the whole reason it exists — and the reason it needs handling carefully.
4 × 4 × 6 = 96. The number of separate absences is squared, so frequency counts far more than length.
Same days off, very different scores
- One absence of 10 days → 1 × 1 × 10 = 10
- Five absences of 2 days → 5 × 5 × 10 = 250
- Ten single days → 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000
That is the whole point of it: scattered odd days are harder to cover on a rota than one planned run.
Where the usual trigger points sit
There is no official scale. These are the bands most UK employers settle on, and they are policy choices rather than law:
| Score | Typical response |
|---|---|
| Under 200 | Nothing. This is ordinary. |
| 200 – 500 | An informal conversation. Is something going on? |
| Over 500 | A formal review under the absence policy. |
Before you use this on somebody
- It is a prompt, not a verdict. The score says nothing about why somebody was absent. Employers have lost discrimination claims by treating it as automatic.
- Discount disability-related absence. Adjusting or ignoring it is a common reasonable adjustment, and not doing so is a real legal risk.
- Pregnancy and maternity absence must not be counted at all.
- It punishes honesty. A team that knows it is scored this way starts coming in ill, or takes a whole week rather than one day. Both are worse than the problem.
Information, not legal advice. ACAS publish free guidance on managing absence.
Questions
- What is the Bradford Factor?
- A score that weights frequent short absences more heavily than one long one. It is the number of separate absences squared, multiplied by the total days lost: S x S x D. Four separate absences totalling six days scores 4 x 4 x 6 = 96.
- What is a good or bad Bradford Factor score?
- There is no official scale. Many employers treat roughly 200 as the point to have a conversation and 500 as the point for a formal review, but those are policy choices rather than legal thresholds. Whatever you choose should be written down and applied consistently.
- Is the Bradford Factor legal in the UK?
- Using it is lawful. Using it as an automatic trigger for disciplinary action is where employers get into difficulty, because it takes no account of why somebody was absent. Employers have lost disability discrimination claims by applying it mechanically.
- Should disability-related absence count?
- Normally no. Discounting absence related to a disability is a common form of reasonable adjustment, and failing to do so risks a discrimination claim. Pregnancy and maternity related absence must not be counted at all.
Working this out for a whole team?
Rotasmith scores absence automatically against each person's own working pattern, so a part-timer's week off is not counted as five days. It shows the score banded rather than as a verdict, with these caveats on the page.
See a live example