Using the Bradford Calculation and Applying the Bradford Score

by | Dec 26, 2014 | Tips and Tricks

The Bradford Factor is a measure to help identify irregular patterns of attendance within a business. The Bradford calculation will give each staff member a Bradford Score which can then be used in conjunction with other measures to determine how unplanned short term sickness absence is really affecting your business. It is primarily a diagnostic tool helping to identify a concern so any staffing problem may be dealt with. Your place of work can then operate more efficiently and without disruptions such as looking for replacement staff at short notice or having tasks not completed.

The Bradford Score is calculated using the number of sickness absences and their duration in the previous (usually rolling and not calendar) 12 months and the duration of those absences. It is easily worked out using our Bradford Calculator. A higher score may indicate a problem with unexpected short-term absenteeism for an employee. The score itself is calculated as follows:

Bradford Factor = N2 x D

N = Total number of unplanned absences in a period (typically a 52 week year)
D = Number of Days Absent during the same period

As the score increases it may trigger action within a business, this might be an interview with the employee to discuss why their score is high. It’s at that point that other factors can be considered before taking more action such as verbal or written warnings, or dismissal. Any policy that uses the the Bradford Factor should really be using it together with common sense rules allowing discretion and discussion on factors like employee well-being, employee health or chronic condition which may be the reason behind their irregular attendance. Applying it blindly is likely to be as harmful has ignoring poor employee attendance altogether.

The Time Clock MTS Bradford Factor Calculator

The Time Clock MTS Bradford Factor Calculator

The Bradford calculation is widely used throughout the United Kingdom by the NHS and is increasingly being used worldwide. The East London NHS Foundation Trust adopted their own Bradford Score System which uses the Bradford Factor as a base and takes a couple of other things into consideration. Staff with a trigger point Bradford Score of 200 or more are assessed to see if other patterns of attendance exist. They may also have 4 or more occasions of one day or more of absence due to sickness and/or a clear pattern of absence such as single sick days adjoining a weekend. There we see the Bradford Calculation supporting managers to take a proactive approach to identify patterns of absence and take action accordingly. Peninsula Community Health, also part of NHS community health services in Cornwall are using their employee’s Bradford Score with a trigger level of 300 for referral to human resources. Staff there are aware of their score which in itself also helps absence management. If staff are aware of their scores they may actively try and keep it lower by choosing not to have an unnecessary day off.

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-payroll-calculator-image18097496On the other hand, staff at Wakefield and Pontefract Community Health Trust in West Yorkshire fear the effect of time off on their Bradford Factor score. In health this could be detrimental in itself with staff opting to come to work with a sniffle or bug and then introducing their illness to patients with compromised immune systems or children to potential life-threatening sickness. For management though, the problem is that if staff are commonly absent they are leaving the hospital short staffed with little or no notice, which again can compromise patient care. Some employers suggest that the hospital system is not the place for the type of employee who is continually ill or susceptible to communicable illness. Studies have, however, shown that in the cases where staff are aware of their own Bradford Score and are educated in the application of the score that absenteeism has been reduced by up to 20%.

Despite criticism of the Bradford Method more and more businesses are opting to use the Bradford Calculation to monitor a range of absence information. Used as a trigger with other measures in place it can be a vital tool for identifying a problem and to stimulate a discussion with your staff. Then management can make a fair and rational decision based on all available information.

A Guide to Common Bradford Score application

50-200 – monitoring and/or verbal warning
This trigger prompts a discussion between the employee and managers about why these short term absences are occurring. If a problem is identified it can usually be dealt with.

200-400 – written warning
If after meeting with an employee the Bradford score has not been reduced to an accepted level. A warning in the employee file is necessary.

400-600 – final warning
The employee has failed over a number of occasions to rectify the issue and is notified of last chance scenario.

600+ – dismissal
After taking all other situations into consideration including medical evidence of chronic condition, family situation and employee well-being and over a period of time the Bradford Score is not acceptably reduced then dismissal should be seriously considered.

Calculating the Bradford Factor Score

Calculating the Bradford score for an employee is relatively straight-forward and can be done easily enough using spreadsheet or simply a calculator and pencil and paper. Alternatively you can make use of our online Bradford Factor Calculator. It’s free and super easy to use!

References

Fisher, Paula, The Bradford Factor, Organization for Responsible Businesses n.d., accessed 24 December 2014, http://www.orbuk.org.uk/article/the-bradford-factor

Reitano, Peter The Bradford Factor, HR.COM 29 June 2009, accessed 24 December 2014, http://www.hr.com/SITEFORUM?&t=/Default/gateway&i=1116423256281&application=blog&elementID=1246286005473

SHORT TERM ABSENCES – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, Berkely Solicitors, accessed 24 December 2014, http://www.claim.co.uk/short-term-absences-faq.html

One Happy Time Clock User Now Using Job Tracking

by | Dec 16, 2014 | User Testimonials

Having used Time Clock MTS for just over 5 years, Larkin Holavarri of Soft Star Shoes recently contacted us with an enquiry about the software. His manufacturing and retail business in Oregon needed to use departments to help differentiate areas of payroll within the company. He mentioned one particular employee working in production for 4 days of the week and project development on a fifth day. From a management and payroll point of view he wanted to easily see how much money was being spent on development costs in his business.

Our support team suggested they begin using the job tracking feature integrated within Time Clock MTS to easily keep track and see how much time is being spent on other projects or on different tasks. Larkin was impressed the software already had these features built in and thanked the support team for explaining the process.

This is GREAT; exactly the capability we are looking for!

We love your product so I’m really happy it will continue to grow with us.

Larkin HolavarriCEOSoft Star ShoesOregon, USA

We’ve popped up his kind testimonial over on our customer reviews page where you can read about other happy time clock customers and how Time Clock MTS moulds itself into their companies being easily configured to suit your business demands.

Edit Employee or Times From the Employee List Screen Shortcut

by | Dec 8, 2014 | How To, Tips and Tricks

As a busy administrator here’s one quick Time Clock MTS tip that’s going to make your life much easier. Did you know that if you double click on an employee name in the employee list home screen then it immediately gives you the option to either edit the employee or edit employee times? In a busy office we know you’ve got better things to do than your often tiresome payroll and this is exactly where Time Clock MTS takes the hairpulling out of this staff management process. We understand you might not know all the menus and features like we do which is why we try and make the user interface of the software as easy as possible to navigate. This neat little feature will save you valuable time. You could of course browse the menu and find the Employee Maintenance -> Edit Selected Employee or the Tools -> Edit Times, but why bother when you know this handy little quick tip.

Time Clock MTS Logged in as the Administrator

Time Clock MTS Logged in as the Administrator

When logged in as the administrator on the main Time Clock MTS home screen you can simply double click on the employee name in the employee list that you need to edit then a popup window will appear. You can then decide whether to edit that employee or edit the employee times so you can quickly and easily make your changes or do the payroll for this reporting period. Whichever you choose you’ll be immediately taken to that screen to make your adjustments. Could it be any easier!

Edit Employee or Times?

Edit Employee or Times?

User Review Publication Printer

by | Nov 12, 2014 | User Testimonials

It’s great to get comedic review to bring a smile to your work day. New to Time Clock MTS, Publication Printers Corp has recently purchased and setup Time Clock MTS to run with MySQL. Their social media manager, Grumpy Marketing Guy Alon Waisman along with Marcus Lingl were kind enough to send in this new user testimonial after successfully setting up the Network PLUS Edition. Read the full user review on our new and improved time clock user reviews page.

The Manage Connections Screen

by | Feb 23, 2014 | How To, Tips and Tricks, Using the Software

The Manage Connections Screen

The Manage Connections Screen

Above you can see the Manage Connections screen. This screen is used to view and manage the connections to your Time Clock MTS database. Generally you won’t need to use this screen for much, but every now and again you may need it to delete old, stale connections that are using up your Time Clock MTS Client Licenses. This can commonly happen two ways. Firstly, you’ve installed the Time Clock MTS Client software on too many computers and you’re continually using up your client licenses (you should only install the Time Clock MTS Client software on as many computers as you are licensed for). The second reason is that perhaps a computer with the client software on it has suddenly died or shutdown incorrectly and you’re going to install the software on a new PC because the old one is kaput. In this case the connection record for the old computer can often not be deleted correctly and you’ll need to remove it manually.

This blog describes the process to remove a connection record from Time Clock MTS.

1. Find the connection you want to remove in the list on the Manage Connections screen. You can identify the computer the connection is coming from by the name of the computer or the MAC address of the computer.

2. Ensure that the computer named is no longer running the Time Clock MTS Client software.

3. Click on the connection record you want to delete.

4. Click the Disconnect button to remove the connection record.

That’s all there is to it, but as always if you have any problems please Contact Us and we’ll do our best to help you out!