What is a good Bradford Factor score?
A good Bradford Factor score is a low one, and a score under 50 means three spells of absence or fewer in the year. The Bradford Factor multiplies the number of separate absence spells by itself, then by the total days absent, so two short absences totalling 4 days score 16. Scores climb fast once spells pass four or five, which is the pattern the measure exists to flag.
Start with the formula, because the whole answer hides in it. Count the separate spells of absence in the period, usually a rolling 52 weeks, and square that number. Multiply by the total days absent. Four spells covering 6 days gives 4 × 4 × 6, a score of 96.
Squaring the spells is what makes the score useful and what makes it harsh. Take three people who were each off 10 days this year. One spell of 10 days scores 10. Five spells of 2 days score 250. Ten single days score 1,000. Same days lost, scores a hundred times apart.
So a good score is one built from few spells. Someone with a single week off for flu scores 5. Someone with two one-day absences scores 8. Anything under 50 needs no action, because four spells can't score that low: even four single days make 64.
Set your trigger points in your own absence policy, and publish them before you use them. A first trigger somewhere between 64 and 125 means four or five one-day spells start a conversation, while one bad week never does. Name what each trigger leads to, from a friendly check-in to a formal review.
Read the score with the reasons beside it. A run of Mondays tells a different story from a string of hospital appointments, and the number can't tell them apart. Treat a high score as the prompt for a private conversation, never as the verdict.
Getting the inputs out of PeopleMuster takes a minute. On the leave management screen, filter by employee, the Sick or Emergency leave type and a 52-week date range, then export. Days marked Absent on the attendance screen export the same way. Count each unbroken run of days as one spell, and you have S and D for the formula.
Related questions
How do you calculate a Bradford Factor score?
Square the number of separate absence spells, then multiply by the total days absent. Three spells covering 6 days gives 3 × 3 × 6 = 54. Most teams count over a rolling 52 weeks.
What Bradford Factor score should trigger a review?
Set the trigger points in your absence policy and publish them in advance. A first point between 64 and 125 catches four or five one-day spells, while a single week of illness, which scores 5, never reaches it.
Why does the Bradford Factor punish short absences?
Spells are squared and days are not. Ten single days score 1,000, while one ten-day absence scores 10. The formula treats frequent short gaps as the bigger disruption, so always read it with the reason for each spell.
Where do I get the numbers for a Bradford Factor score?
From your leave and attendance records. In PeopleMuster, filter leave management by employee, sick leave type and a 52-week range, then export; count each unbroken run of days as one spell and add up the days.