Bradford factor
The Bradford factor is an absence score that weights frequent short absences more heavily than one long one. It is B = S² × D, where S is the number of separate absence spells and D is the total days absent, usually over a rolling 52-week window. Employers use it to flag attendance patterns for review, not to decide discipline on its own.
The formula
B = S² × D. S counts separate spells of absence rather than days: a three-day flu and a one-day migraine are two spells. D is the total days absent across them. Squaring S is the point. Two spells weigh four times as much as one, three weigh nine times.
The window is commonly a rolling 52 weeks, so old absences drop out as new ones land. Some employers reset on the calendar year instead. Neither is a standard, so a policy has to say which it uses.
A worked example
Three people, each absent 12 days over the same 52-week window.
| Absence pattern | Spells (S) | Days (D) | Calculation | Score (B) | Example band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One 12-day spell (surgery recovery) | 1 | 12 | 1² × 12 | 12 | Under 50: no action |
| Four spells of three days | 4 | 12 | 4² × 12 | 192 | 101 to 200: a conversation |
| Twelve single days | 12 | 12 | 12² × 12 | 1,728 | Above 400: escalate |
All three cost 12 working days. The scores run from 12 to 1,728, a 144-fold spread decided entirely by how those days were split. The metric measures predictability, not time lost.
Trigger bands are policy, not standard
A score means nothing without a threshold, and every threshold is an employer's own choice. One published example set runs: under 50, no action; 50 to 100, monitor; 101 to 200, a supportive conversation; 201 to 400, a formal discussion; above 400, escalate, and consult HR and legal before any serious consequence. Its publisher calls these guidelines rather than hard rules. Other vendors publish different numbers and no HR body publishes a canonical set, so read any of them as an illustration, not a benchmark.
What the score cannot tell you
The formula sees a pattern and nothing else. A condition causing short recurring absences, such as epilepsy, asthma or cancer treatment, produces a high score with no attendance problem to manage, and the UK trade union Unison has argued the metric encourages presenteeism. Practitioner guidance warns against using it as the sole basis for a dismissal: serious decisions are expected to rest on more than one number and on a fair process. A score tells you which conversations to have, not what to decide.
How this shows up in Growee
Growee does not calculate a Bradford factor: no score, no column, no threshold alert. What it holds is the two inputs the formula needs, in a form you can export and total yourself.
- Every absence is its own dated record. A leave request stores the employee, the policy, start and end dates, and a days-off count Growee calculates from the range minus your organisation's legal holidays and, unless you configure otherwise, weekends. One approved record is one spell; that count is its duration.
- Leave types are yours to define. Policies for paid, sick, parental, unpaid or any custom type, so you can isolate the absences you want to score before counting.
- Filtered export. With the manage-holidays permission, export leave records to CSV or XLSX filtered by employee, period and status, with columns for type, dates and days off. Count the rows per person for S, sum the days-off column for D.
- Balances stay current. Balances, the attendance sheet and the shared calendar update the moment a request is approved.
The records live in leave management. The scoring stays in your spreadsheet.
Sources
The bands above are one published example, not a standard: cut-offs vary between sources and no HR body publishes a canonical set. Nothing here is legal advice; absence decisions touching a health condition need advice in your jurisdiction. Growee behaviour is described as of August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How is the Bradford factor calculated?
Multiply the number of separate absence spells by itself, then by the total days absent: B = S² × D. One continuous week off scores 7 (1² × 7); seven single days score 343 (7² × 7).
What counts as a high Bradford score?
Whatever your policy says. Every published band set comes from a vendor or practitioner and the cut-offs differ. A score that signals a real problem where shifts must be covered hour by hour can be unremarkable on an asynchronous team.
Where does the Bradford factor come from?
Commonly attributed to 1980s research at the Bradford University School of Management, though Bradford University has not confirmed it. The Financial Times reports that HR folklore instead traces the origin to a pharmaceuticals firm whose managers attended a seminar at Bradford Management School.
Does Growee calculate a Bradford factor?
No. It records each absence as a dated request with a computed number of days off, under leave policies you define, and exports any slice of that history filtered by employee and period. Counting spells and summing days happens in your spreadsheet. See leave management.