Glossary
Bradford Factor
The Bradford Factor is a UK absence-scoring formula: B = S² × D, where S is the number of separate absence spells in a rolling period and D is total days absent. Squaring the spells weights frequent short absences far more heavily than one long absence.
Ten single days absent scores 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000; one ten-day spell scores just 10. The formula makes disruption visible: every separate absence forces a new round of cover-finding, which is why frequency matters more than duration to shift businesses.
It is a management metric, not law. Used well it triggers early, consistent conversations; used badly it punishes illness. Disability- and pregnancy-related absences need separate, careful handling — folding them into raw scores can be discriminatory.
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