Important note: The Bradford Score (also known as the Bradford Factor or Bradford Index) is provided within this Analytics+ report as an optional analytical tool to help you identify potential patterns of short-term, frequent absences. It is not a legal standard, compliance requirement, or definitive measure of employee performance or attendance. This report is strictly an analytical tool and does not account for the specific reasons behind an absence (e.g., protected leave). Users must manually verify all absence data against personnel records before engaging in any disciplinary or performance-related discussions.

You are solely responsible for how you interpret and use Bradford Score report data. Any decisions related to discipline, performance management, leave, accommodations, or employment status must be made in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws - including, but not limited to, laws governing protected leave, disability accommodations, discrimination, and retaliation. The Bradford Score should not be used as the sole basis for employment decisions or adverse actions.

Deputy does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or legal suitability of the Bradford Score report for any specific use case. Please review Deputy's Product Specific Terms and Subscription Agreement for additional details.

The Bradford Score report is one of the reports available as part of Deputy Analytics+ and Deputy HR.

How can this report help my organisation?

Using the Bradford Score report may help to identify and monitor absenteeism trends across your teams and locations. It can help you track absence patterns, spot recurring disruptions, and proactively address potential attendance issues using clear data to support your policies.

What questions can this report help me answer?

What's the current Bradford Score for each of my team members?
Which team members or locations show the most frequent or disruptive absence patterns?
Where should I focus attention to support attendance and address emerging issues?

What does 'Bradford Score' mean?

The Bradford Score is a widely used HR metric that helps teams understand absence patterns and their potential impact on business operations. It focuses on repeated, short-term absences, rather than occasional long-term leave. A numerical score is calculated based on both the frequency and duration of absences.

Using the Bradford Score method, attendance can be grouped into the following ranges:

Bradford Score	Concern Rating	Description
50 or less	Low Concern Rating	Few absences; attendance is generally stable
51 - 200	Initial Concern Rating	Some absences; may indicate the start of a pattern
201 - 400	Medium Concern Rating	Absences are more frequent; shows a developing pattern of short-term absence
400+	Serious Concern Rating	Recurring absences; indicates a frequent absence pattern over time

Important: Managers should ensure that legally protected absences (such as medical leave or jury duty) are properly categorized in the system so they do not artificially inflate an employee's Bradford Score.

What is in the Bradford Score report?

Summary

The first section of the report shows a summary of:

the percentage of the workforce with at least 1 recorded absence, with a ‘Low’ Concern Rating (score of 50 or less)
the percentage of the workforce with at least 1 recorded absence, with an ‘Initial’ Concern Rating (score between 51 and 200)
the percentage of the workforce with at least 1 recorded absence, with a ‘Medium’ Concern Rating (score between 201 and 400)
the percentage of the workforce with at least 1 recorded absence, with a ‘Serious’ Concern Rating (score greater than 400)

Example of the Summary section located at the top of the report. Shows percentages of team members with Low Concern Rating, Initial Concern Rating, Medium Concern Rating and Serious Concern Rating

Note: The workforce percentage shown in this summary section is displayed relative to the filters applied to the Table of team member’s Bradford Score and Concern Rating.

Additionally, by default, the report filters all leave requests approved in the last 12 months (this will be a rolling 12 months). The intended purpose of this report is to allow managers to view a quick retrospective snapshot of their employee’s Bradford Scores, factoring in past approved leave requests in this timeframe.

Filters

The summary percentages, tables and charts in this report will be acted upon using the built-in drop-down menus to select specific:

Primary (main) Location
Team Member
Concern Rating
Absence Spells
Bradford Score
Leave Policies for Inclusion (Note: Any leave policies selected will be included in the Bradford Score calculation)
Calculation Date Range (Note: It's recommended to calculate this over a 52-week period)

Table of team member’s Bradford Score and concern rating

A table displaying team members' Bradford Score and Concern Rating, as selected by the filters in this report:

Team member
Location
Absence Spells (S): The values in this column reflect the total number of distinct absence spells per team member. Consecutive or "sandwiched" absences are treated as a single spell.
Absence Days (D):The values in this column reflect the total number of working days missed due to approved absences, excluding weekends and non-working days.
Bradford Score: The values in this column reflect are calculated using the formula S² × D, giving greater weight to frequent, short absences to highlight disruptive absence patterns.
Concern Rating: This column categorizes team members into Low, Initial, Medium, or Serious Concern based on their Bradford Score range, with corresponding color coding applied.

Chart of Concern rating per location

A bar chart displaying the percentage of team members (y-axis) at each location (x-axis) according to their absenteeism concern rating.

Each bar represents 100% of the team (with at least one absence) at that location. The different coloured segments show the proportion of team members falling into a specific rating (i.e. green for ‘Low Concern', Yellow for ‘Initial Concern’, Orange for 'Medium Concern’ and red for 'Serious Concern'), making it easy to spot which locations are most affected by problematic absenteeism.

The chart defaults to display team members from all locations but this can be refined by using the Primary Location filter at the top of the Bradford Score report.

Interested in finding out more about the data that produced the chart?

Drill down on an aspect of the chart
Show or download the underlying data (Contains Confidential Employee PII - For Internal HR Use Only)

FAQs on using this report