WFM UK: Bradford Factor

Overview

The Bradford Factor is a formula used by HR departments to calculate the impact of employees’ absences on the organisation. It is based on the theory that short, frequent, unplanned absences are more disruptive to organisations than longer absences.

Please Note: The Bradford Factor formula is available for Enterprise and Performance Editions, but not for Foundation Editions.

Bradford Factor

Bradford Factor scores are based on the frequency and length of an employee’s absence during a defined period, usually 52 weeks.
 
The formula used is:

B= S² x D

Where:

B = Bradford factor score 
S = total number of spells (instances) of absence for that individual in the given period
D = total number of days the individual was absent during the given period

The calculation of absences in the Workforce Management system is not perfect because it does not distinguish between different types of absences. This means that it does not tell the whole story about absenteeism in the workplace. However, this can be analysed further in Foundation Fourth Analytics.

What is Needed to Use the Bradford Factor?

The following elements are required for the Bradford Factor to calculate:

Absence V2

Absence functionality V2 is required and must be enabled and in use. Please review this article to ensure the functionality is being used correctly - WFM UK: HR: Differences Between Absence Versions 1 and 2

To have this functionality enabled on the portal, please liaise with your Fourth contact.

Absence Reason

Please note – all absence reasons will be included in the Bradford Factor. For example, Jury Service.

Foundation Analytics can be configured to exclude absence reasons.

Global Setting

In order to display, the Bradford factor needs to be switched on in HR Global Settings. 

• Go to HR > Administration > Global Settings > Edit Default Employee Settings
• Tick the boxes for Display employee absence data on absence editing screen and Show Bradford Factor
• Save

Fig.1 - HR Global Setting - Bradford factor

Contracts

Contracts need to be created and assigned to all employees for the Bradford Factor to calculate.
For guidance, please see WFM UK: Creating and Assigning Contracts.

Bradford Factor scores are based on the frequency and length of an employee’s absence during a defined period - usually 52 weeks. This can be configured in the contract setting, even if not paying Company Sick Pay (CSP), as seen in Fig.2.
 

Fig.2 - Contract Absence Settings