The Bradford Factor in the UK: a guide for HR

The law in this guide is the law of England, Scotland and Wales. The sections of the Equality Act 2010 and the Employment Rights Act 1996 cited here extend to those three nations (legislation.gov.uk, linked below). Northern Ireland has its own law, including the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (nidirect) and the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

The formula

The Bradford Factor is a method, not a legal measure. Employers who use it work it out as:

B = S x S x D

• S, spells: the number of separate absences. Days off in a row are one spell.
• D, days: the total days absent across all those spells.

Both are counted over the same period. A rolling 52 weeks is common: on any date, count the spells and days in the 52 weeks before it. Squaring S gives frequent short absences far more weight than one long absence of the same total length.

Acas describes trigger point systems as usually based on either the number of absences in a period or the length of an absence (Acas, absence trigger points). The Bradford Factor combines both in one number, with more weight on the number of absences.

Worked examples

Each row has the same 10 days of absence. Only the number of spells changes.

One more: an employee with 4 spells totalling 8 days scores 4 x 4 x 8 = 128. If the same 8 days had been one absence, the score would be 8. You can try your own figures in our Bradford Factor calculator.

What a score does and does not show

A score shows how often someone has been absent, weighted towards many short absences. It does not show:

• why the employee was absent;
• whether the absences come from one health condition, a disability or pregnancy;
• whether someone was caring for a dependant in an emergency; or
• whether work caused the absence, for example an accident or stress.

These are the questions Acas says an employer should consider in an absence review, together with whether to refer the employee to occupational health and whether the reason is genuine (Acas). Only a conversation with the employee answers them. A return-to-work interview after each absence is the simplest place to start.

Setting trigger points

A trigger point, or review point, is a score at which your policy says the absence will be reviewed. Acas says there are no legal rules about how or when absence should be reviewed (Acas, absence trigger points). If you use trigger points, Acas says your absence policy should make clear:

• what the review points are;
• how you flag that an employee has reached one; and
• that reaching one will start an absence review.

Acas also says review points should not be used to trigger disciplinary action automatically. If employees see the system as a way to punish them, they may come back to work too early to avoid a review point, which can cause more absence (Acas).

An example, not a standard

The table below is an example of how a policy could set levels. No law or official body sets these numbers. Use the levels in your own policy. Acas advises involving any recognised trade union when you create or review an absence policy, or consulting worker representatives if there is none (Acas, creating absence policies).

When you choose your own levels:

• Make the first level a review conversation, not a warning.
• Check how many employees each level would have caught over the last year before you adopt it.
• Use the same period, usually 52 weeks, for every employee.

Our guide to absence policies and trigger points covers the rest of the policy: reporting, evidence and return-to-work meetings.

Excluded absences

The score is meant for unplanned absence, so planned leave such as holiday is left out. The harder cases are absences linked to a protected characteristic.

Disability-related absence

A disabled employee may need time off for treatment, and so reach your trigger points sooner than others (Acas). Two sections of the Equality Act 2010 apply:

• Section 15: an employer discriminates if it treats a disabled person unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of their disability, and cannot show that the treatment is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. This does not apply if the employer did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that the person had the disability (Equality Act 2010, s15).
• Section 20: where a provision, criterion or practice puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage compared with people who are not disabled, the employer must take the steps it is reasonable to take to avoid the disadvantage (Equality Act 2010, s20).

Acas gives these examples of reasonable adjustments to trigger points: not counting some or all disability-related sickness absence, raising the number of absences that triggers a review, and recording disability-related absence separately from other sickness absence (Acas, disability-related absence). Whether an adjustment is reasonable depends on the circumstances. Acas advises talking with the employee and, where it helps, getting medical advice such as an occupational health report.

Pregnancy-related absence

Under section 18 of the Equality Act 2010, an employer discriminates against a woman if, in or after the protected period, it treats her unfavourably because of the pregnancy or because of illness she suffered in that period as a result of the pregnancy. The protected period starts when the pregnancy starts and, for a woman with the right to maternity leave, ends at the end of her additional maternity leave or when she returns to work, if earlier (Equality Act 2010, s18). Acas suggests deciding that pregnancy-related absence will not count towards review points (Acas).

Time off for dependants

Acas lists time off for dependants among the things to check in an absence review, when the absence was an emergency involving someone who depends on the employee (Acas). Record it as its own leave type, not as sickness. Our guide to time off for dependants covers the right.

Using scores fairly

A score tells you whose record to look at. It is not a reason to act on its own. If a review leads to dismissal, the employer must show the reason for it. Reasons that can be fair include the employee's capability, which includes health, and their conduct. Whether the dismissal was fair then depends on whether the employer acted reasonably in the circumstances (Employment Rights Act 1996, s98).

So the reason for the absence decides the route:

• Genuine ill health is a question of capability: support, adjustments and medical advice come first.
• Absence that is not genuine, or not reported as the policy requires, may be a conduct issue. Acas says that if the employer believes the reason is not genuine, it might need to deal with it as misconduct (Acas).

Our guide to absence warning letters under the Acas Code covers the formal steps, and the UK employment law guide covers the wider legal framework for sickness absence.

The Bradford Factor in Appsentia

Appsentia works out the Bradford Factor for every employee from the sick leave in your uploaded records, over the 52 weeks to today. Sick days in a row form one spell. Weekends, non-working days and bank holidays in between do not break a spell, and for UK companies the bank holidays are those GOV.UK publishes for each nation.

• Your trigger points. You enter the levels from your own policy. Appsentia shows who has reached each level, and sends an alert when an employee's score reaches a higher level. No one is flagged until you save your levels.
• Excluded absences. You can mark a leave type or a single absence as pregnancy-related, disability-related or for another protected reason. Excluded absences are kept out of the Bradford score, the risk score, pattern flags and alerts. They still count in absence rate, days lost and cost.
• The decision stays with you. Appsentia shows the score, the spells behind it and your levels. It does not say what to do.

Leave records come in as a CSV or Excel file from any HR or payroll system. See what Appsentia does for UK employers.

Sources

1. Acas, Absence trigger points, last updated 29 November 2024.
2. Acas, Disability-related absence, last updated 10 September 2024.
3. Acas, Creating absence policies, last updated 25 June 2026.
4. Equality Act 2010, section 15, section 18 and section 20, legislation.gov.uk.
5. Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98, legislation.gov.uk.
6. nidirect, Disability discrimination law: employment rights (Northern Ireland).

Sources checked on 11 November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.