Free tool
Bradford Factor calculator
A way of weighting frequent short absences more heavily than one long one. Useful for spotting patterns, dangerous when used as an automatic trigger.
The score is a smoke alarm, not a verdict. A high score means look, not act. Absence connected to a disability, pregnancy or a serious health condition must be considered separately, and adjustments considered, before anything formal happens. A firm that lets the number issue warnings on its own is building its own tribunal claim, one return to work conversation at a time.
How it is worked out
Spells squared, times total days. Four absences totalling nine days scores 144; one absence of nine days scores 9. The squaring is the point: it makes the pattern of frequent short absences visible. There are no statutory bands. Whatever review points you use, reaching one should start a conversation, and that conversation should be recorded.
What do your review points actually trigger?
If the honest answer is a warning, or nothing, your absence procedure needs looking at before January. The free review will tell you where it stands.
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