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Calculate your Bradford factor

Enter the number of separate absence spells and the total days absent over the last 12 months to get the Bradford Factor score, also known as the Bradford score or Bradford index. Free, no sign-up, nothing is stored.

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Example policy bands
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Score 128Review band

Last 12 months

Number of separate absence spells

A spell is one continuous period of absence, whether it lasts one day or two weeks.

Total days absent

All working days lost across every spell in the same 12-month period.

Save the calculator link

Receive a link to this calculator and its guidance. Absence inputs and scores stay in your browser.

Count spells, not days

Ten days in one spell scores 10. Ten days across five spells scores 250. Frequency is what the formula punishes.

Read it against your policy

The bands below are examples. Your absence policy sets the real triggers and review periods.

Let a human decide

Use the score to start a conversation and record adjustments. Never as an automatic trigger.

Example score bands

Bands used in many UK absence policies. There is no legal standard: check your own policy, and always pair the score with human review.

Score	Typical policy response
0 to 50	No action. Normal levels of absence.
51 to 125	Monitor. An informal conversation to check whether support is needed.
126 to 250	Review with the employee, with any health context and adjustments recorded.
251 to 500	Formal absence review under the organisation's policy.
Over 500	Serious concern; senior HR involvement.

Questions about the Bradford Factor

How is the Bradford Factor calculated?

The formula is S x S x D: the number of separate absence spells, squared, multiplied by the total days absent. Squaring the spells is the point. Ten days in one spell scores 1 x 1 x 10, which is 10. The same ten days across five spells scores 5 x 5 x 10, which is 250, because five interruptions disrupt a team far more than one. The full definition is in our glossary entry on the Bradford Factor.

What counts as a spell of absence?

One continuous period of unplanned absence, however long. A single sick day is one spell, and so is two weeks off with the flu. Booked holiday, parental leave and other approved leave are not counted; the score is a measure of unplanned absenteeism, not of leave taken.

Is the Bradford score the same as the Bradford Factor?

Yes. Bradford Factor, Bradford score, Bradford index and Bradford formula all name the same S x S x D calculation. HR systems and absence policies simply label it differently, so this calculator answers all of them.

What is a good Bradford Factor score?

Lower is better. Where the triggers sit is a policy decision, not a rule: the bands above are common examples, but organisations set their own thresholds and review periods as part of absence management.

How should the score be used?

A raw threshold applied automatically can punish people with disabilities or long-term conditions, and that can breach equality law. Use the score to start a conversation, record adjustments, and let a human make the call. Clean records help too: when leave, absence and attendance live in one system, the inputs to this calculation stop being an argument. More free resources live in the HybridHero Hub.

See all HybridHero FAQs

From score to system

Leave and absence, tracked in one place

HybridHero records leave requests, approvals and attendance patterns alongside desk, room and parking booking, so absence data is clean before anyone calculates a score.

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