Sabbaticals

• What is a sabbatical?
• About unpaid sabbaticals
• About paid sabbaticals
• How can I get a sabbatical?

What is a sabbatical?

A sabbatical is a period away from work, agreed with your employer. The word is sometimes used interchangeably with 'career break' or 'adult gap year', but the specific feature about a sabbatical is that you will come back to the same job.

The word 'sabbatical' comes from 'sabbath' - when academics would take every seventh year out.

About unpaid sabbaticals

Unpaid sabbaticals are by far the most common form of sabbatical in this country. Organisations which offer unpaid sabbaticals tend to be large corporations or big public sector employers. Smaller companies are starting to offer unpaid sabbaticals though.

Usually, if you want an unpaid sabbatical, you will have to have worked for your organisation for a minimum period of time. Your pension and salary will usually be frozen. Although your company may guarantee to hold your job open, sometimes they will only offer a similar job at the same level. Your employer will also usually stipulate that you can't do paid work for another company on your sabbatical (exceptions are sometimes made for charities).

About paid sabbaticals

Paid sabbaticals are quite rare. This is when you take time out from your job, but your employer continues to pay your salary. They are sometimes available to academics for a particular purpose (eg research) but in the corporate world, they are generally given for a long period of service - such as 25 years.

How can I get a sabbatical?

If your company has a formal career break or sabbatical policy, find out how to apply by asking your line manager or HR manager. Even if your company has not offered sabbaticals before, it could still be worth asking for one. To test the water, mention the concept casually and see how your boss reacts. You might choose to drop in some facts that you've recently read about, eg that it costs around £8,500 to recruit a new member of staff, which is why it's cheaper to let an employee take a sabbatical.

• Get a printable sabbatical application form
• (opens in a new window)

If you want to go ahead and formally request a sabbatical, it is vital that you tell your boss what benefits your career break will bring to the company (apart from your unswerving loyalty!). Things like the fact you are learning skills which you can't learn in your current job, eg becoming proficient in a particular language, or learning leadership skills. You may also like to point out that you have developed relationships with colleagues, clients, and/or suppliers which any replacement will take years to build up.

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