Does karma depend on individual goodness or relative goodness?

What I mean is I know lots of good people who have had really bad things happen to them; while on the other hand I kow some bad people who just live almost free of pain. Can it be that the people I know are relatively good compared to the world at present, but not good as in an absolute requirement or qualification of goodeness that exists. And the bad people are just bad relative to the world we live in and not absolutely bad according to the same reason as goodness.