Bradford scale

[whowhatwerewhy]

Does anyone think the Bradford scale is outdated.
I'm on the scale as I went off sick due to bugs I picked up at work . Other people in our companyWFH so aren't exposed as much .
It seems the scale is outdated and doesn't reflect peoples jobs and exposure to germs .

It was rubbish from the day it was invented. As if anybody can help catching infectious illnesses.

Any kind of of sickness/ absence monitoring seems unfair... but where do you start and where does it end?

I can see it might have its place if the work force was on and even playing field.
I'm exposed to a lot of bugs and have caught most of them , and I'm penalised.
My boss feels a bit rough but can " work from home " and avoids going off sick .
Just seems it's unfair and not fit for purpose.

Yes it's old fashioned. I work for a small business but we will keep a record of sickness. It's flagged up if someone takes a day off every 1 or 2 months as tbh ate quite a lot. I'd say the average person only takes a couple of days a year? Unless your have health issues.

Sorry for terrible spelling and grammar on phone!

Possibly not with a system that inherently discriminates against those with disabilities, taking medication that affects the immune system or where you're told you have to guarantee you will not catch norovirus, break your ankle or get cancer for the next 11 and a half months or you'll be in a disciplinary for lying to them.

It’s not a great system but they never are.

I had two weeks off following a major illness and felt pressured to go back in, but after two days I had to take another week off. my colleague had 5 weeks off at the same time. my Bradford score is worse than hers because I went back in, so had two periods off rather than her one period despite me taking less time off.

But then it's up to the employer to be considerate and understanding not a simple system based on algorithms.

If you are flagged up as having a day here and a day there there are issues. Again it's up to you and your employer to open up communication.

I had an employee once who had a staggering account of short term absence as in long weekends. We had a meeting and it transpired that he was homeless/ sofa surfing and spending some time with family 200 miles away...

Plus if you have a declared disability, you are protected by law.