The Bradford Factor (or Bradford index) together with trigger point mechanisms is a widely used method by Human Resouces to identify members of staff whose absenteeism needs review.

The Bradford Factor is based on the theory that short, frequent and unplanned absences are far more disruptive to any organisation than longer, planned absences, where cover can be more easily planned and organised.

Automatic Calculation

Using the Bradford calculation, employees who are prone to taking frequent days off at random will have a high Bradford Factor, immediately alerting managers and questioning whether their illness is genuine or not.

Used effectively, the Bradford Factor can significantly reduce absenteeism by serving both as a deterrent and a method of addressing repeated absences.

Compiling the data and calculating the Bradford Factor can be an extremely time consuming process. Typical calculations are over a 52-week rolling period, across multiple teams/departments and locations. If you are using traditional methods i.e. using Excel or reviewing electronic calendars and diaries this can be subject to error, and subsequent distortion.

Activ Absence Control will automatically calculate each employee's Bradford Factor quickly and easily. Recent studies have shown that educating staff about the Bradford Factor and then making the score highly visible to them, can reduce help absenteeism by over 20%.

Using Trigger Mechanisms

Activ Absence Control uses the Bradford Factor in conjunction with easily configurable 'trigger points' to alert management of staff absenteeism. For example, existing clients are using the following 'triggers' to recommend the next course of action:

Setting the above triggers are entirely dependent on the organisation using the Bradford Factor. We would advise using the Bradford Factor as one of a number of absence management policies.

By simply entering unplanned absences directly into the Activ Absence Control online system, your existing time consuming and error-prone manual processes become a quick, accurate, automated diagnostic which, importantly, is impartial and can be tracked over time ...benefitting the employees, the managers and the business.

The Bradford Factor can be personalised to suit your own company's policies, you can choose your own trigger points alerts or traffic light system to decide whether to monitor daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or a yearly basis, or any combination which best meets your requirements. Let the Bradford Factor work for you.

Identifying absence trends

Activ Absence Control also provides graphical tools to identify trends and patterns in staff sickness, based on days of the week, sickness type and proximity to approved leave, holidays and public holidays.

software produces a trigger point notification system which can send an email to HR or the line manager based on patterns in an employee's absence (e.g. 3 occurrences of sickness within a 3 month period). These trigger points can help you monitor and enforce your existing absence policies or introducing a proven method of reducing absenteeism.

Making it easy for you to...
	Calculate the Bradford Factor automatically
	Provide staff & management with high visibility of absenteeism
	Configure trigger point alerts
	Analyse data trends graphically
	Help with taking the appropriate action