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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be worried about Bradford score

38 replies

Differentcorner · 21/11/2018 22:10

Please can someone help. I have been offered my dream job but am terrified they will withdraw the offer when they find out I have a Bradford score of 68. I have not taken any other time off in the last 5 years but this year had some gynae issues resulting in two absences one of 3 days and another of 14. Do you think they will turn me away? Read somewhere a score of 50 equates to a verbal warning and another policy that would only consider that at >125

OP posts:
Prawnsandwhich · 21/11/2018 22:12

68 doesn’t seem high at all!! Trigger point at my old place was 240. New place I’m at is 180. My bradford score was over 1000 when I was going through an awful time a few years back so 68 shouldn’t be anything to worry about :)

AutumnGlitterBall · 21/11/2018 22:15

Mine is currently 90! Three absences, one of three days due to being injured at work and a four day and three day absence thanks to the toddler bringing vomiting bugs into the house in January and last month. My own work’s policy is four absences in a rolling year means intervention. The actual numbers don’t mean very much to them. That’s a public sector job. I think you’d need to check your company’s policy to see what they do and what their cut off is.

emma6776 · 21/11/2018 22:17

Do you have a gp note to cover the treatment? My work automatically exclude any sick leave covered by a doctors note from being counted towards the Bradford factor.

Nolagerformethanks · 21/11/2018 22:18

I genuinely thought this was a football thread 😂 goes to google Bradford score.....

Original poster
Differentcorner · 21/11/2018 22:20

Yes I did have a go cert to cover the 14 day absence

OP posts:
nicebitofquiche · 21/11/2018 22:24

Glad it wasn't just me then Nolagerformethanks Smile

MeredithGrey1 · 21/11/2018 22:26

Hopefully since they already like you enough to have offered you the job, they’d give you a chance to respond if they were to withdraw the offer or be worried about absence (and they might not be bothered by it all anyway).

And once you’ve explained, no absences in 5 years and then one issue which caused two periods of absence (with a doctor’s note) makes you actually sound like a pretty reliable employee in my opinion.

CloserIAm2Fine · 21/11/2018 22:27

That isn’t that high, which is because although you’ve had quite a few days, it’s only over two incidences. If you’d had the same number of days but they were all one or two day incidences your score would be through the roof!

Do employers actually share the details of your sickness like the actual score?

FunkyKingston · 21/11/2018 22:29

Don't worry, they beat Aldershot 4-1 on penalties last night.

LEMtheoriginal · 21/11/2018 22:29

Oh dear - i thought this was going to be a thread about poo Blush

Never heard of this.

WillChellam · 21/11/2018 22:31

sounds like a load of BS to me, somebody trying to be clever because they can use a formula.

I personally wouldn't work for any employer that had so little regard for their employees as to reduce them to a a x-squared statistic.

Yidette86 · 21/11/2018 22:39

As an employer I would be more concerned about regular short term absences.

Your score isn't bad really and it sounds like you have a great record before that.

TheChickenOfTruth · 21/11/2018 22:43

Trigger at my work is 300. The department keeps an eye on the number of people with a score of 100+, but doesn't actually take note of the individuals, just checking that there's not a constant increase.

grumpy4squash · 21/11/2018 22:53

Oh dear - i thought this was going to be a thread about poo

Why would you think it was about poo? Is there a Bradford poo score?

WhenISnappedAndFarted · 21/11/2018 22:54

@Nolagerformethanks - so did I! Glad I wasn't the only one

FrancesFryer · 21/11/2018 23:00

I think the poo chart is Bristol not Bradford

user1471517900 · 21/11/2018 23:03

I assumed Bradford was a celeb surname on Strictly or something...

Littletabbyocelot · 21/11/2018 23:06

Yes, it's the Bristol stool chart. As I discovered when looking for a Bristol themed present for mother in law. Apparently there is nothing about Bristol as visually appealing (to Amazon shoppers) as a nice mug picturing the different types of poo. I did not buy it.

Op, I've changed jobs with a much higher score and had no problems.

Clarinet1 · 22/11/2018 01:38

Previous absence management company employee here - I really don't think you need to worry and, if the company make a fuss, perhaps they wouldn't be great to work for anyway. Firstly, a score of 68 is really not that bad at all. Secondly, the whole point of the Bradford factor as a means of measuring absence is that it gives weight to both the number of days you are off and the number of occasions so that the score for some idiot who drinks like a fish every weekend and misses lots of Mondays with a hangover will be much worse than for someone who perhaps has one absence of a few weeks for surgery. Also, whatever trigger point an organisation has for investigation into a particular employee's absence (and it will vary from organisation to organisation), should only be a starting point; It does not stop the employer from having to make reasonable adjustments for employees with a genuine disability or long term health condition for example. As Pp have said, the fact that the vast majority of your time off was signed off by a doctor is a pretty good sign that you were genuinely ill. Presumably from the way your OP was worded you have not been asked about your absence record at interview or on an application form so if they ask your current employer anything about it when taking up references my guess is either they will ask how many sickness absences you have had in the past X months and I would hardly think they could object to 2 in year or they will ask for a Bradford factor or the details from which they can calculate it which I have already said I think sounds fine.

Crappygilmore · 22/11/2018 01:56

Have no fear my best friends before she quit was 17,000 she had on going mental heath issues and they couldn't do fuck all as it was a concurrent issue. The Bradford thing is a joke. It punishes people who have to be off sick. Mine went from 1 to 40 because I had to take a fortnight off when dh had a breakdown. I get that they have to keep the workforce from taking the piss. But making you paranoid about taking time off means a lot Will think twice even if you pose a health risk to others

Kahlua4me · 22/11/2018 02:33

I have never heard of the Bradford score. Seems like another tool to keep “minions” at their desks and take away any human interactions.

I run a business, albeit very small, but wouldn’t dream of reducing anyone to a number to be compared to others by.

Clarinet1 · 22/11/2018 03:32

As I tried to explain above the Bradford factor is only a starting point and, whatever kind of measure an employer uses for absence, it should be a means to ensure that those employees who may need support get it as well as to ensure that others aren't taking unreasonable absence. It shouldn't be a case of a score of X is automatically acceptable and a score of Y automatically gets you the sack.

Kahlua4me · 22/11/2018 03:39

Ah, thanks for that explanation, I must have missed it before. Good to know that it is used to help people sort things out.

Monty27 · 22/11/2018 03:51

I don't think you have anything to worry about

TAMS71 · 22/11/2018 06:31

ours is set so a warning letter gets sent if you have 2 absences (1wk for an injury and 1 day for a virus) within 12mths, which I've had but manager seems to have forgotten to send me the letter she kindly promised me.... I can't be sick again before next June! So I'll have to be bringing any bugs/viruses whatever into work to spread to everyone else if they appear before then! bleugh