Bradford Factor

Does your company use the Bradford Factor to monitor employee absences due to illness? The Bradford Factor is built around the theory that multiple short absences are more disruptive than fewer long absences. The score is determined by squaring the total number of sick leave absences in a given period, and multiplying that by the total number of days absent. Here are a few examples:

1 instance of absence for a duration of 5 days (1 x 1 x 5)  = 5 points
2 instances of absence; each of 5 days (2 x 2 x 10) = 40 points
5 instances of absence; each of 2 days (5 x 5 x 10) = 250 points
10 instances of absence; each of 1 day (10 x 10 x 10) = 1000 points

As you can see, the score increases rapidly when there are multiple absences. A low score will help keep productivity at a high level in the organization. Using the Bradford Factor could help your organization spot employees that are disrupting workflow due to a high number of absences.