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Bradford factor tracker
Score your whole team's absence patterns in one grid. Rolling 52-week window, your own trigger points, CSV in and out, and a print view for the meeting. Nothing is uploaded; your data stays in your browser.
Five single days score 125. One ten-day illness scores 10.
Set up the grid
Your team
Type straight into the grid. Open someone’s log to record dated absences and the rolling 52-week window takes care of itself. Sort by score to see who needs a conversation first.
| Spells (52 wks) | Days (52 wks) | Band | Log |
|---|
No. This free tracker does what the downloadable Bradford spreadsheets do, in your browser: one row per employee, the S squared x D calculation, trigger bands at 51, 201 and 401 (all editable), and a rolling 52-week window that updates itself. If you already keep totals in a spreadsheet, import them as CSV and export the scored grid back out. Nothing is uploaded and there is no sign-up.
How the tracker scores
Each person's score uses the standard Bradford Factor formula, B = S squared x D, where S is their number of separate absence spells and D their total days absent across a rolling 52-week window. Squaring the spells is the whole point of the index: five single days score 125, while one five-day illness scores 5, because unplanned odd days are far harder to cover than one known stretch. The tracker applies the common trigger points of 51 for an informal review, 201 for a formal review and 401 for escalation, and you can change all three to match your own absence policy. Enter each person's spell and day totals directly, or open their log and record dated absences; with a log, the tracker counts only the spells that fall inside the last 52 weeks, so scores update themselves as old absences age out. That rolling window is the part a spreadsheet makes you rebuild every month. Everything runs in your browser. Names and absences are never uploaded, stored or seen by us; the grid is saved on your own device so it is still here next month.
Scoring one person’s pattern? The Bradford Factor Calculator does a single absence record in two fields.
New to the term? Read the plain-English definition of the Bradford factor in the HR Glossary.
- The Bradford Factor is a convention, not a standard. The formula is widely used across UK and ANZ practice and the trigger points of 51, 201 and 401 are common practice, but no regulator sets them and none audits you against them. Set your own and write them into the absence policy.
- Squaring the spells punishes frequency. Someone managing a chronic condition through many short absences scores high through no fault of their own, and the score cannot separate genuine illness, caring, disability or injury from pattern absence. That separation is yours to make before anything is acted on.
- The score counts whatever you enter as a spell. Include approved leave, planned appointments, work-related injury or carer's leave taken with notice and it inflates. Decide what counts before you import the spreadsheet.
- The rolling window counts a spell if it started within the last 365 days, in full. A long absence that straddles the window edge counts entirely or not at all, so a score can drop sharply on one day.
- The tracker has no legal reading. Paid personal and carer's leave is a National Employment Standards entitlement, and discrimination law protects disability and family responsibilities. A trigger is a prompt for a conversation, never a disciplinary step on its own.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Sick and carer's leave (the paid personal and carer's leave entitlement absences are drawn against), accessed August 2026
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Protection from discrimination at work (disability, family and carer's responsibilities among the protected attributes), accessed August 2026
- The Bradford Factor itself: usually attributed to 1980s work at the University of Bradford, which the university has never confirmed and no primary paper records; the 51/201/401 trigger points are practitioner conventions rather than a published standard
What to do about it
A grid of scores tells you where absence is disrupting the team and who is heading toward a trigger. It cannot tell you why, and acting on the score without the why is how organisations end up penalising their sickest people. These steps are for whoever keeps the grid and the managers who will read it.
Agree what counts as a spell before the first row goes in
Unplanned personal leave, in most policies. Write the exclusions down (approved leave, planned appointments, work-related injury, carer's leave with notice) and apply them to the import, so the score means the same thing for everyone in the grid.
Read the grid for patterns before people
Sort by score, then open the logs. Mondays and Fridays, one team, one manager, one roster. A pattern across several people is a workload or management problem wearing five individual scores.
Talk before you trigger
A person crossing 51 gets a supportive conversation about what is going on and whether anything at work would help, documented the same day. Ask about adjustments before you mention policy. Genuine illness, injury, caring and disability need care, and much of it should sit outside what the score drives.
Take the team-level view to the manager's manager
If half a team is over the informal trigger, that calls for one conversation about the team rather than five about individuals: demands, support, the manager, the roster. Absence is often the first measurable sign of a climate problem, and the grid is where it shows up first.
Re-run monthly and count the crossings
The window ages old absences out on its own, so improvement appears without anyone rebuilding a spreadsheet. Track how many people crossed a trigger this month against last, and treat a rising count as the signal it is.
The grid shows who.
It cannot show why.
Compono Engage is an employee engagement platform that reads culture and climate alongside work personality, so the team that keeps lighting up the grid comes with a reason attached: demands, support, recognition, the manager. Most absence tools count the days. They have nothing to say about what the days are a symptom of.
Step 4 asks you to take the team pattern upstairs. Engage is what you take with it, a read of the same team's climate that turns "they are away a lot" into something a manager can act on. The tracker shows the pattern. Engage shows the cause while it is still a conversation rather than a resignation.
Common questions
What are the standard Bradford Factor trigger points?
The convention used widely across UK and ANZ HR practice is 51 for an informal review, 201 for a formal review and 401 for escalation. They are a starting point, not a standard anyone audits you against, so the tracker lets you set all three to match your own absence policy. Lower scores are better; under 51 is generally treated as no concern.
How does the rolling 52-week window work?
The Bradford Factor is measured over the last 52 weeks, not a calendar year. When you record dated absences in someone's log, the tracker counts only the spells that started inside the last 365 days, so a bad patch two winters ago stops inflating their score automatically. Older entries stay in the log for reference but are excluded from the calculation. This is the piece spreadsheets handle worst, because someone has to rebuild the window by hand every month.
Is my team's absence data uploaded anywhere?
No. The tracker runs entirely in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to Compono or anyone else. The grid is saved on your own device (using your browser's local storage) so your team is still here when you come back, and the Clear all button removes every trace. The share buttons only ever share aggregate numbers, never names.
Can I import my existing absence spreadsheet?
Yes. Export it as CSV with columns for name, absence spells and days absent (the tracker recognises common headings like "occasions" and "total days", and copes with quoted names). Rows are added to the grid and scored immediately. You can export at any time, and the export includes each person's score and band so it files neatly with your absence records.
Should I discipline someone over a high score?
No, a high score is a signal to start a supportive conversation, not an automatic disciplinary step. Genuine illness, caring responsibilities and disability-related absence all need care, and much of it should sit outside what the score drives. Blind trigger-pulling on Bradford scores is how organisations end up penalising their sickest people. Use the grid to spot patterns worth understanding, then talk to the person.
Next step
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Open the builder →Related toolCost of absenteeism calculator
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Run it next →HR GlossaryThe Bradford factor
The plain-English definition, with the calculators and rules that sit around it.
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