Bradford Factor: useful, abused, and how to actually run it
It's the most-cited and most-misunderstood absence metric in UK care. Here's how to use it as a conversation starter, not a hammer.
Ash Stevens
Founder, ashdub
Bradford Factor (S² × D, where S is the number of separate absences and D is the total days lost in 52 weeks) was designed in the 80s for one purpose: to highlight that frequent short absences disrupt operations more than a single long absence. That's still true. But over the years, the score has been operationalised in ways that miss the point.
It's a watchlist, not a verdict
A Bradford score of 200+ is not a reason to discipline. It's a reason to have a conversation. The best HR business partners we work with use the score to schedule a return-to-work meeting and ask three questions: What's happening at home? What's happening at work? What can we change?
The thresholds that work
- Below 50: green. Most of your team. No action.
- 50–200: yellow. Note in the next 1:1, no formal action.
- 200–400: amber. Schedule a return-to-work meeting on the next absence. Look for patterns.
- 400+: red. Formal absence-management process. Document everything.
What undermines it
Bradford as a number gets gamed: staff drag themselves in unwell, and you end up with infection-control incidents instead of absences. The fix is paired metrics — Bradford alongside presenteeism flags from your shift-handover notes. CareLoop pairs them automatically; if you're tracking Bradford alone, you're missing half the picture.
About the author
Ash Stevens
Founder, ashdub
Writing about care operations, compliance and the boring software engineering that makes both of them work. Always open to a conversation — hello@careloop.com.
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